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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: snap · scale · wave · coach · shower · ground · race · cold

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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. shower — rain
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — the arms race
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. scale — in music
  8. snap — to click
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ground — the earth
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. cold — not warm
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — crushed
  16. scale — size or range
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. shower — to wash
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. race — humankind
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. scale — for weighing
  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