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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: shower · jam · scale · kick · cold · cabinet · bound · band

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. bound — certain
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. band — a ring
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. kick — in football
  10. bound — obliged
  11. scale — in music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. shower — rain
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. band — a music group
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. bound — tied together
  22. shower — to wash
  23. scale — size or range
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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