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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: date · wave · kick · chest · saw · cold · pit · shower

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cold — not warm
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. saw — the tool
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. pit — in a race
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. saw — the tool
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — in football
  13. pit — a hole
  14. date — the fruit
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. chest — a box
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. chest — of your body

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