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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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. march — music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bulb — for light
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — not warm
  8. shower — rain
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. fall — to drop
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to sink
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — letters
  18. bulb — for light
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. fall — the season
  21. march — the month
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. cold — an illness
  24. march — the month

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