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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. lean — thin
  10. lie — to recline
  11. wound — an injury
  12. march — the month
  13. fall — the season
  14. fall — to drop
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wound — an injury
  19. lean — to bend
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. bowl — to roll

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