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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. tear — to rip
  3. shower — rain
  4. fall — to drop
  5. prune — to trim
  6. fall — the season
  7. shower — to wash
  8. drill — the tool
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. tear — from crying
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pitch — completely
  14. prune — to trim
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — a practice
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. fall — to drop

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