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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 116 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: last · file · shower · field · hand · tube · fall · coach

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. file — a line of people
  3. field — for sport
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. last — final
  6. field — a subject
  7. file — a tool
  8. shower — rain
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. file — a document
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. field — farmland
  16. hand — in cards
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. tube — a container
  19. last — finally
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. hand — help
  23. shower — to wash
  24. last — to go on

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