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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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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: wake · rest · chair · wind · clip · row · shower · fall

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. rest — what's left
  6. row — a line
  7. shower — to wash
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fall — to drop
  13. clip — a video
  14. shower — rain
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rest — a break
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wake — a trail
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. chair — a leader
  24. clip — to cut

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