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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mate · rash · drill · spring · racket · shower · clip · fall

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. fall — the season
  3. rash — hasty
  4. mate — a partner
  5. fall — to drop
  6. shower — rain
  7. fall — to drop
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spring — a coil
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. shower — to wash
  12. mate — to breed
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. clip — a video
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — the season
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mate — a friend
  24. rash — a series

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