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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: cold · can · stick · fork · pitcher · shower · mate · roll

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — a partner
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. cold — not warm
  8. can — a tin
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. roll — a list
  11. roll — a cake
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. mate — to breed
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. can — to be able to
  17. can — a tin
  18. shower — rain
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. fork — in a road
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. cold — an illness
  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