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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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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: staff · squash · cold · jam · cap · roll · shower · charge

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. squash — the sport
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. cap — a hat
  6. shower — to wash
  7. roll — a list
  8. staff — a stick
  9. charge — a price
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. staff — employees
  14. cap — of ice
  15. staff — employees
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. charge — electricity
  18. cap — a lid
  19. charge — in control
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. shower — rain
  22. squash — to crush
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. cold — not warm

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