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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: date · chest · fan · net · cold · shower · stem · deal

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  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 — the Cold War
  2. net — for catching
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. net — after costs
  8. date — the fruit
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. deal — to handle
  11. chest — a box
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. chest — of your body
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. net — in sport
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fan — a supporter
  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