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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: cold · saw · game · snap · shower · bowl · stand · ball

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. saw — the tool
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. shower — to wash
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stand — to bear
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. game — a match
  17. saw — the tool
  18. ball — a dance
  19. ball — a great time
  20. shower — rain
  21. game — wild animals
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. snap — to click
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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