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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  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. object — an aim
  2. file — a tool
  3. fall — to drop
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — for catching
  6. row — a line
  7. stock — shares
  8. object — to protest
  9. stock — goods
  10. file — a document
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. net — in sport
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. shower — to wash
  16. march — the month
  17. object — a thing
  18. shower — rain
  19. march — music
  20. fall — the season
  21. march — the month
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. fall — to drop
  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