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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mark — a grade
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. drill — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mark — a trace
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cell — in biology
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. fall — the season
  15. bat — the animal
  16. stock — goods
  17. cell — a phone
  18. stock — shares
  19. fall — to drop
  20. shower — to wash
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. drill — a practice
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. drill — army training

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