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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: ground · pit · coach · foot · hide · drill · cold · shower

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. shower — rain
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pit — a hole
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ground — a position
  11. shower — to wash
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. ground — crushed
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. foot — a measure
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — a practice
  18. pit — in a race
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. ground — the earth
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. drill — army training
  24. coach — a trainer

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