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

Word bank: bat · fine · fall · shower · race · game · wind · stand

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. race — humankind
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. game — a match
  6. fine — high quality
  7. fall — to drop
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. race — a contest
  10. shower — rain
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wind — moving air
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bat — the animal
  16. wind — moving air
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. fall — the season
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. shower — to wash
  22. game — wild animals
  23. fine — all right
  24. stand — to bear

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