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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. fall — to drop
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. fall — the season
  6. rest — a break
  7. drill — a practice
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. rest — what's left
  10. shower — rain
  11. race — humankind
  12. hand — help
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rest — what's left
  17. drill — army training
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. fall — to drop
  20. race — the arms race
  21. hand — in cards
  22. drill — the tool
  23. race — a contest
  24. pitcher — a jug

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