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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · wind · firm · shower · content · fall

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. firm — steady
  3. firm — a company
  4. fall — to drop
  5. firm — decided
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. wind — moving air
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wind — moving air
  13. content — the amount
  14. fall — the season
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — rain
  17. fall — to drop
  18. race — the arms race

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