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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. chest — of your body
  3. toast — bread
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. cap — a hat
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. chest — of your body
  10. shower — to wash
  11. fall — to drop
  12. ground — the earth
  13. shower — rain
  14. cap — a lid
  15. pitch — completely
  16. chest — a box
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ground — a position
  19. fall — to drop
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. cap — of ice
  23. fall — the season
  24. pitch — a sports field

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