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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: press · coach · fall · pop · wind · shower · drill · content

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. press — a publisher
  4. pop — to visit
  5. drill — army training
  6. pop — music
  7. fall — to drop
  8. shower — to wash
  9. wind — moving air
  10. content — happy
  11. fall — to drop
  12. drill — the tool
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. press — to push
  16. drill — a practice
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. fall — the season
  19. press — newspapers
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. content — the amount
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pop — soda

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