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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 120 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: temple · hand · drill · shower · fall · rash · land · wave

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. drill — the tool
  3. land — ground
  4. rash — hasty
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. shower — to wash
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. land — a country
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. drill — a practice
  14. land — to come down
  15. hand — in cards
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. hand — help
  18. fall — the season
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. fall — to drop
  21. drill — army training
  22. shower — rain
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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