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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bass — the fish
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bass — low music
  6. rash — a series
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bore — to drill
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. fall — the season
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. fall — to drop
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. shower — rain

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