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

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. shower — rain
  4. chest — of your body
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. fall — the season
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chest — of your body
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. chest — a box
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fall — to drop
  14. game — a match
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. fall — to drop

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