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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: bore · cap · coach · row · shower · prune · wave · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — rain
  3. cap — a lid
  4. row — to paddle
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cap — of ice
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. row — a line
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. prune — to trim
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. bore — to tire
  16. cap — a hat
  17. bore — to drill
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. prune — the fruit

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