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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cap — a hat
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cap — a lid
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. land — ground
  12. shower — rain
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. band — a ring
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. fall — the season
  18. cap — of ice
  19. rush — hurry
  20. land — a country
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. hand — help
  23. shower — to wash
  24. band — a music group

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