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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. fall — the season
  7. cue — a signal
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. spell — a short time
  11. wake — a trail
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cue — a hint
  15. cue — for pool
  16. wound — an injury
  17. spell — magic
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. file — a document
  21. fall — to drop
  22. spell — letters
  23. file — a tool
  24. fall — to drop

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