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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  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. lean — to rest against
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. fall — to drop
  4. rest — a break
  5. present — a gift
  6. rest — what's left
  7. lean — thin
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. present — there
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. kid — child
  13. fall — to drop
  14. present — the time now
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rest — what's left
  17. clip — to cut
  18. lean — to bend
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. wake — a trail
  23. fall — the season
  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