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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. ball — a great time
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. shower — rain
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fall — the season
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a dance
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. shower — to wash
  15. clip — a video
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. clip — to cut

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