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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fine — high quality
  5. bulb — for light
  6. shower — to wash
  7. drill — a practice
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bulb — for light
  14. fine — all right
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. drill — the tool
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. fall — the season
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. drill — army training
  23. shower — rain
  24. nail — for a hammer

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