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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. band — a ring
  3. land — to come down
  4. fall — to drop
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. plane — a tool
  9. shower — to wash
  10. snap — to click
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. land — ground
  13. land — a country
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. fall — the season
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. shower — rain
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. band — a music group
  24. plane — in geometry

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