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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 · rock · shower · tube · present · hand · fine · mine

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. tube — a container
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rock — music
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. mine — for digging
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. fall — the season
  11. fine — high quality
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. fall — to drop
  14. rock — a stone
  15. tube — the underground
  16. hand — in cards
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. shower — rain
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. shower — to wash
  21. present — the time now
  22. hand — help
  23. fine — all right
  24. present — a gift

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