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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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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: rush · fall · key · shower · mine · clip · squash · sharp

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fall — the season
  3. key — the most important part
  4. squash — the sport
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. shower — rain
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. sharp — clever
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. clip — to cut
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. squash — to crush
  17. key — in music
  18. key — for a lock
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mine — belonging to me

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