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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. land — to come down
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. fall — to drop
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fall — the season
  8. land — a country
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rush — hurry
  11. wake — a trail
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. fall — to drop
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. land — ground
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. lie — to recline
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. pitch — completely
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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