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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. land — a country
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. season — in sport
  5. lie — to recline
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. fall — to drop
  8. land — ground
  9. stem — to come from
  10. land — to come down
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. scale — in music
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — a tool
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. fall — to drop
  18. scale — size or range
  19. saw — the tool
  20. season — of the year
  21. saw — the tool
  22. fall — the season
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. stem — a stem cell

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