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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wound — an injury
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. ground — a position
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. stem — to come from
  9. fall — to drop
  10. ground — crushed
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. fall — the season
  16. ground — the earth
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. straw — dry grass

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