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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. spring — of water
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a document
  9. shower — rain
  10. spring — the season
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wake — a trail
  13. present — a gift
  14. degree — from a university
  15. fall — to drop
  16. shower — to wash
  17. present — there
  18. degree — an amount
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. pass — a permit
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. present — the time now
  23. fall — the season
  24. file — a line of people

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