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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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kid — child
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cue — a signal
  5. fall — to drop
  6. ground — crushed
  7. degree — an amount
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. cue — for pool
  11. degree — temperature
  12. ground — a position
  13. fall — the season
  14. shower — rain
  15. wind — moving air
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. shower — to wash
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. ground — the earth
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cue — a hint
  24. degree — from a university

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