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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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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 · row · fork · cold · ruler · fall · mouse · snap

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. row — to paddle
  4. shower — to wash
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. shower — rain
  13. fork — in a road
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. fall — to drop
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. snap — to click
  19. row — a line
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — the animal

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