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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 116 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: wind · shower · cap · bass · fall · pitcher · saw · current

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cap — of ice
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bass — low music
  5. fall — to drop
  6. current — of water
  7. cap — a hat
  8. current — electric
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. cap — a lid
  11. current — happening now
  12. shower — rain
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. fall — the season
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. shower — to wash
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bass — the fish
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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