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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — for paper
  3. swing — to play on
  4. clip — to cut
  5. last — final
  6. last — finally
  7. spell — magic
  8. last — to go on
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. degree — temperature
  14. toast — bread
  15. swing — music
  16. pitch — completely
  17. fall — the season
  18. swing — in golf
  19. spell — letters
  20. fall — to drop
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. spell — a short time
  24. clip — a video

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