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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. capital — a city
  4. object — an aim
  5. pit — a hole
  6. tear — to rip
  7. ground — a position
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. ground — crushed
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mug — to rob
  12. fall — the season
  13. tear — from crying
  14. object — a thing
  15. ground — the earth
  16. mug — a face
  17. mine — for digging
  18. capital — money
  19. pit — in a race
  20. object — to protest
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fall — to drop
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mug — a cup

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