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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fall — to drop
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. can — a tin
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bark — to shout
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. fall — the season
  12. pitch — completely
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. wax — to grow
  15. fall — to drop
  16. can — to be able to
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. wind — moving air
  19. shower — rain
  20. row — a line
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. row — to paddle
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wax — for sculpting

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