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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. shower — to wash
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. shower — rain
  8. squash — to crush
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. fall — to drop
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. hand — help
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. file — a line of people
  17. wake — a trail
  18. file — a tool
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. deal — to handle
  21. file — a document
  22. hand — in cards
  23. fall — the season
  24. hide — to keep secret

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