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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — for paper
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. clip — a video
  8. squash — the sport
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. mark — a grade
  11. fall — the season
  12. squash — to crush
  13. game — a match
  14. clip — to cut
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. mark — a trace
  17. game — wild animals
  18. rush — hurry

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