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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: cap · safe · shower · wound · fork · lash · cold · mate

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. shower — to wash
  3. mate — a friend
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. mate — a partner
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. cap — a hat
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cap — of ice
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cold — an illness
  16. shower — rain
  17. fork — in a road
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. mate — to breed
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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