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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. shower — rain
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. fall — to drop
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. cap — a hat
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. cap — a lid
  14. fall — to drop
  15. press — newspapers
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cap — of ice
  19. press — a publisher
  20. dip — to sink
  21. press — to push
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fall — the season
  24. cell — in biology

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