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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: fall · present · pitch · shower · club · plane · tear · game

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. shower — to wash
  3. fall — the season
  4. club — for golf
  5. fall — to drop
  6. tear — to rip
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. game — a match
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. present — there
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. club — for dancing
  13. tear — from crying
  14. fall — to drop
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. present — a gift
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. present — the time now
  20. plane — a tool
  21. game — wild animals
  22. shower — rain
  23. pitch — completely
  24. club — a group

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