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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: craft · cold · shower · dip · row · arm · tube · rule

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cold — an illness
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. craft — boats
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. shower — rain
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. tube — the underground
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. rule — government
  17. rule — a law
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. cold — not warm
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. dip — to sink
  24. shower — to wash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com