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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. fall — the season
  5. spell — letters
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. cold — not warm
  9. swing — in golf
  10. fall — to drop
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. spell — a short time
  14. swing — music
  15. last — finally
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. swing — to play on
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. cold — an illness
  24. spell — magic

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