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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. content — happy
  3. spring — the season
  4. fall — the season
  5. last — to go on
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — a coil
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. content — the amount
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. last — final
  17. plane — a tool
  18. lean — to bend
  19. last — finally
  20. lean — thin
  21. mark — a grade
  22. spring — of water
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. mark — a trace

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