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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. perch — the fish
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. file — a document
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tube — the underground
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. tube — a container
  10. shower — to wash
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. file — a tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cell — a phone
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. rash — hasty
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. file — a line of people
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cell — in biology
  24. shower — rain

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