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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: fall · nail · bat · firm · pound · plane · press · shower

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. fall — to drop
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. press — to push
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. pound — a weight
  12. firm — decided
  13. press — a publisher
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. plane — a tool
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. shower — to wash
  18. firm — steady
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. press — newspapers
  24. plane — in geometry

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