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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 · bark · capital · rush · bat · sharp · safe · fall

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. fall — the season
  4. capital — a city
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bat — the animal
  10. sharp — clever
  11. capital — money
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — to shout
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. shower — to wash
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. shower — rain

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