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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: rock · hide · file · shower · cap · fall · date · wound

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. date — the fruit
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wound — an injury
  6. file — a document
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cap — a hat
  10. fall — the season
  11. rock — a stone
  12. cap — a lid
  13. fall — to drop
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. cap — of ice
  16. shower — to wash
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. file — a tool
  19. rock — music
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wound — an injury
  24. shower — rain

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