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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fall — to drop
  3. shower — rain
  4. land — to come down
  5. pop — soda
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pop — music
  8. fall — to drop
  9. land — ground
  10. fall — the season
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. mark — a grade
  13. pop — to visit
  14. swing — music
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. net — in sport
  17. mark — a trace
  18. land — a country
  19. swing — in golf
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — after costs
  22. swing — to play on
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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