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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cap — a lid
  4. roll — a cake
  5. cap — of ice
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to bend
  8. fall — the season
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. row — to paddle
  14. fall — to drop
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cap — a hat
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. row — a line
  24. arm — a part of something

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