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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: scale · wind · fall · can · pound · shower · cold · wound

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. can — a tin
  3. scale — size or range
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. cold — not warm
  11. can — to be able to
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. fall — the season
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fall — to drop
  16. scale — in music
  17. wound — an injury
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. shower — rain
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. can — a tin

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