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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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Word bank
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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: ball · kid · roll · pass · fall · shower

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. roll — a list
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. ball — a dance
  7. roll — a cake
  8. shower — to wash
  9. kid — child
  10. shower — rain
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. pass — a permit
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fall — the season

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