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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. land — a country
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. row — a line
  5. land — to come down
  6. rest — a break
  7. land — ground
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — a division
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. shower — to wash
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. rest — what's left
  14. shower — rain
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. rest — what's left
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wake — a trail
  24. row — a quarrel

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