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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: ball · fall · perch · rash · fan · shower · drill · temple

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. drill — army training
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a great time
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. rash — a series
  19. perch — the fish
  20. ball — a dance
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — rain
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. shower — to wash

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