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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: cold · stick · cap · rash · shower · date · bound · hide

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. cold — not warm
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. date — the fruit
  9. cap — a lid
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rash — hasty
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. cap — of ice
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bound — obliged
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. shower — rain
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bound — certain
  23. rash — a series
  24. cold — an illness

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