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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. net — in sport
  4. shower — to wash
  5. chest — of your body
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. field — farmland
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — newspapers
  11. fall — to drop
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. chest — of your body
  15. net — after costs
  16. chest — a box
  17. net — for catching
  18. shower — rain
  19. rule — government
  20. press — to push
  21. rule — a law
  22. hand — in cards
  23. fall — the season
  24. rule — to rule out

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