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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wind — moving air
  3. fall — the season
  4. row — to paddle
  5. shower — rain
  6. staff — employees
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. fall — to drop
  12. staff — a stick
  13. fall — to drop
  14. can — a tin
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. bat — the animal
  18. row — a line
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. can — a tin
  22. saw — the tool
  23. can — to be able to
  24. staff — employees

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