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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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. row — a line
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wound — an injury
  7. row — to paddle
  8. fall — to drop
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. wound — an injury
  15. dip — to sink
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. kid — child
  21. fall — the season
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. row — a quarrel

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