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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. tear — to rip
  4. fine — high quality
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. shower — rain
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. fall — the season
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. fall — to drop

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