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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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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mate — a friend
  3. mate — to breed
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. fall — the season
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wind — moving air
  12. tear — to rip
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mate — a partner

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