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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. perch — the fish
  4. race — the arms race
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. race — a contest
  9. tear — from crying
  10. branch — a division
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. race — humankind
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fall — the season

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