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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. track — a path
  5. date — the fruit
  6. track — a song
  7. chair — a leader
  8. drill — a practice
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. drill — army training
  13. last — finally
  14. spring — a coil
  15. track — to keep track
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. drill — the tool
  19. fall — the season
  20. last — final
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. last — to go on
  24. fall — to drop

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