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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. charge — electricity
  3. content — happy
  4. charge — a price
  5. tube — a container
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bat — the animal
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. press — to push
  12. fall — the season
  13. content — the amount
  14. press — newspapers
  15. shower — rain
  16. rash — hasty
  17. press — a publisher
  18. fall — to drop
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rash — a series
  23. charge — in control
  24. rash — on the skin

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