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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. fine — all right
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. land — a country
  6. fall — to drop
  7. tear — from crying
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. drill — the tool
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. tear — to rip
  17. land — to come down
  18. fine — high quality
  19. drill — a practice
  20. pass — a permit
  21. drill — army training
  22. land — ground
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — a phone

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