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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: drill · current · hide · snap · row · shower · march · fall

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. row — a line
  3. fall — to drop
  4. march — the month
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. fall — to drop
  7. current — of water
  8. current — happening now
  9. current — electric
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. snap — to click
  13. drill — army training
  14. shower — to wash
  15. march — music
  16. row — to paddle
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. march — the month
  19. shower — rain
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. fall — the season
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. row — a quarrel

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