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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 116 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 rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fall — the season
  6. shower — rain
  7. kick — in football
  8. mug — to rob
  9. band — a music group
  10. club — a group
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — a series
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. mug — a face
  15. shower — to wash
  16. band — a ring
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fall — to drop
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. mug — a cup
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. club — for dancing
  24. cold — the Cold War

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