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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: fan · leaves · cap · fall · pitcher · sharp · cell · shower

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cap — of ice
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. cell — in biology
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cap — a lid
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. sharp — with an edge

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