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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: clip · fall · shower · last · suit · ground · race · cap

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. shower — to wash
  3. suit — clothes
  4. fall — to drop
  5. ground — crushed
  6. shower — rain
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — of ice
  9. last — to go on
  10. race — humankind
  11. last — final
  12. fall — to drop
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. clip — for paper
  16. suit — to fit
  17. clip — to cut
  18. ground — the earth
  19. cap — a hat
  20. clip — a video
  21. suit — in cards
  22. fall — the season
  23. last — finally
  24. ground — a position

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