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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. race — humankind
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wind — moving air
  8. race — the arms race
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. spell — a short time
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. shower — rain
  16. saw — the tool
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — magic
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. race — a contest
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. cabinet — ministers

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