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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. last — finally
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. fall — the season
  8. capital — money
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. fall — to drop
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chair — a leader
  15. capital — a city
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. wind — to turn a key

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