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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. fall — to drop
  5. squash — to crush
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. spring — a coil
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. fall — the season
  12. shower — rain
  13. squash — the sport
  14. foot — a measure
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — an amount
  20. spring — the season
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. spring — of water
  23. shower — to wash
  24. degree — temperature

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