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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. fall — to drop
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. plane — a tool
  5. clip — for paper
  6. stem — to come from
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. tear — from crying
  10. squash — to crush
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. squash — the sport
  13. tear — from crying
  14. fall — the season
  15. file — a line of people
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. clip — a video
  18. tear — to rip
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. fall — to drop
  24. clip — to cut

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