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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 116 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: mine · shower · bowl · race · kick · dip · band · cold

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. dip — to sink
  5. shower — to wash
  6. mine — for digging
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. race — humankind
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cold — an illness
  13. shower — rain
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — a contest
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. kick — in football

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