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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. chip — for betting
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rash — hasty
  6. wake — a trail
  7. shower — rain
  8. chip — to eat
  9. fall — to drop
  10. branch — a division
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. hand — in cards
  13. fall — the season
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. hand — help
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. shower — to wash
  22. rash — a series
  23. tear — to rip
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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