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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 124 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fine — high quality
  3. net — for catching
  4. fine — all right
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — a break
  9. net — after costs
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — of your body
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fall — the season
  15. cold — an illness
  16. net — in sport
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. chest — a box

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