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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: shower · fall · pop · pitcher · cabinet · vault · patient · wind

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. shower — to wash
  3. fall — to drop
  4. vault — a safe
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. fall — to drop
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. pop — soda
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wind — moving air
  16. shower — rain
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pop — music
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. fall — the season
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wind — moving air

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