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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 116 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: row · wake · shower · pit · kick · wound · bass · cold

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. shower — rain
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. bass — low music
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pit — a hole
  11. kick — in football
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wake — a trail
  14. pit — in a race
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. shower — to wash
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — the fish

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