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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 120 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: cold · shower · wind · tear · coach · squash · arm · season

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. season — in sport
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wind — moving air
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. squash — the sport
  13. tear — from crying
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. tear — from crying
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. shower — to wash
  18. wind — moving air
  19. season — of the year
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. cold — not warm
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. squash — to crush
  24. coach — a trainer

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