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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pit — a hole
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pit — in a race
  7. squash — to crush
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. plane — a tool
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. squash — the sport
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. fall — to drop
  14. file — a line of people
  15. stand — to bear
  16. file — a document
  17. shower — rain
  18. file — a tool
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. fall — to drop
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. fall — the season

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