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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. fall — to drop
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. ground — a position
  5. shower — to wash
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. land — a country
  9. land — ground
  10. stem — to come from
  11. vault — a safe
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. ground — crushed
  16. fall — to drop
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. content — happy
  19. content — the amount
  20. land — to come down
  21. ground — the earth
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. shower — rain
  24. fall — the season

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