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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. land — to come down
  4. mug — to rob
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. land — ground
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bank — for money
  11. pass — a permit
  12. shower — rain
  13. bank — of a river
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wake — a trail
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. mug — a cup
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. mug — a face
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bank — for money
  23. land — a country
  24. cold — not warm

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