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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. pit — a hole
  4. march — the month
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — the animal
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ball — a great time
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. ball — a dance
  14. march — music
  15. shower — to wash
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. march — the month
  20. tear — from crying
  21. fall — to drop
  22. tear — to rip
  23. pit — in a race
  24. fall — the season

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