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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: row · cold · cap · fork · rest · scale · vault · shower

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. shower — to wash
  3. row — to paddle
  4. cap — a hat
  5. row — a line
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. shower — rain
  10. fork — in a road
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rest — a break
  13. cap — a lid
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. rest — what's left
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. cold — an illness
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. rest — what's left
  22. scale — size or range
  23. vault — a safe
  24. fork — to eat with

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