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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 116 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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bound — certain
  7. shower — rain
  8. staff — employees
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. clip — for paper
  11. march — music
  12. row — a line
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bound — tied together
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bound — obliged
  18. clip — a video
  19. staff — a stick
  20. fall — to drop
  21. row — to paddle
  22. staff — employees
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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