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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bank — for money
  4. degree — temperature
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. degree — from a university
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. shower — rain
  12. fall — to drop
  13. degree — an amount
  14. field — a subject
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. shower — to wash
  17. kid — child
  18. bank — for money
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. kid — to tease
  21. field — farmland
  22. plane — a tool
  23. field — for sport
  24. bank — of a river

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