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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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. mug — a face
  5. fall — the season
  6. file — a tool
  7. row — a line
  8. row — to paddle
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mug — a cup
  11. club — for dancing
  12. mug — to rob
  13. club — for golf
  14. club — a group
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. file — a document
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. fall — to drop
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. wind — moving air
  23. sharp — clever
  24. file — a line of people

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