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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bear · leaves · cold · bowl · shower · court · hide · net

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. court — of law
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. shower — to wash
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. shower — rain
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. net — for catching
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. court — for sport
  12. cold — an illness
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. court — of a king
  15. bear — the animal
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. net — after costs
  18. bear — the animal
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. net — in sport
  24. cold — the Cold War

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