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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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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: chest · shower · bat · fall · march · stand · leaves · content

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. shower — rain
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. fall — to drop
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bat — the animal
  11. fall — to drop
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. march — the month
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — happy
  20. march — the month
  21. stand — to bear
  22. chest — a box
  23. march — music
  24. fall — the season

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