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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. shower — to wash
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bulb — for light
  15. shower — rain
  16. net — in sport
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. net — for catching
  20. fall — to drop
  21. net — after costs
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bulb — for light

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