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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: fall · shower · charge · land · coach · squash · chest · rush

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. squash — to crush
  3. fall — the season
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. chest — of your body
  8. charge — electricity
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. land — to come down
  11. charge — in control
  12. fall — to drop
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. fall — to drop
  15. rush — hurry
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — rain
  18. land — a country
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. land — ground
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. rush — a thrill

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