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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pass — a permit
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. shower — rain
  6. pound — a weight
  7. club — a group
  8. cold — not warm
  9. spring — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. spring — of water
  12. fall — the season
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. spring — a coil
  20. club — for dancing
  21. club — for golf
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. cold — the Cold War

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