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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. tear — from crying
  4. march — the month
  5. file — a tool
  6. can — a tin
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. can — to be able to
  9. file — a line of people
  10. ground — crushed
  11. file — a document
  12. ground — a position
  13. march — music
  14. fall — the season
  15. bat — the animal
  16. fall — to drop
  17. can — a tin
  18. march — the month
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bass — low music
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bass — the fish
  24. ground — the earth

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