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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  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. shower — rain
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. season — of the year
  5. wind — moving air
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. fall — the season
  10. face — part of the head
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a great time
  13. perch — the fish
  14. file — a document
  15. shower — to wash
  16. face — to confront
  17. file — a tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ball — a dance
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. face — to point toward
  23. season — in sport
  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