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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. shower — to wash
  3. fall — the season
  4. land — ground
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. press — newspapers
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. staff — a stick
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. press — a publisher
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. land — to come down
  15. fall — to drop
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. press — to push
  19. staff — employees
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wind — moving air
  22. shower — rain
  23. staff — employees
  24. land — a country

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