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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. field — for sport
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. fall — to drop
  6. content — the amount
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. chair — a leader
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wound — an injury
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rush — hurry
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. fall — the season
  17. content — happy
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. chair — to sit on

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