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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: shower · fall · lie · pitcher · date · game · key · roll

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. shower — rain
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. roll — a cake
  5. game — wild animals
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. fall — to drop
  9. lie — to recline
  10. roll — a list
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. shower — to wash
  13. key — the most important part
  14. key — for a lock
  15. game — a match
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. key — in music
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. date — on the calendar

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