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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 116 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. court — for sport
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bass — the fish
  11. court — of law
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. tear — to rip
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. court — of a king
  18. fall — the season
  19. vault — a safe
  20. tear — from crying
  21. scale — size or range
  22. bass — low music
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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