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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 124 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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. date — the fruit
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. mate — a partner
  11. mate — a friend
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. mine — for digging
  15. plane — a tool
  16. wake — a trail
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. mate — to breed
  21. stem — to come from
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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