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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. mine — for digging
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. fall — the season
  7. band — a ring
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. root — the cause
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. root — of a plant
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. clip — to cut
  15. fall — to drop
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. band — a music group
  21. kid — to tease
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. root — of a word

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