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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: cell · cold · stick · shower · degree · coach · fall · racket

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. fall — to drop
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. fall — the season
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fall — to drop
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. cold — not warm
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. shower — to wash
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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