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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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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 · last · rest · band · spring · pitcher · fall · file

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. fall — to drop
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. band — a ring
  5. fall — the season
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. last — final
  11. rest — what's left
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a tool
  15. fall — to drop
  16. spring — a coil
  17. last — to go on
  18. spring — the season
  19. band — a music group
  20. rest — a break
  21. shower — rain
  22. file — a document
  23. spring — of water
  24. last — finally

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