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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. rash — hasty
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rash — a series
  8. clip — a video
  9. lie — to recline
  10. march — music
  11. tube — the underground
  12. clip — to cut
  13. march — the month
  14. tube — a container
  15. land — a country
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. perch — the fish
  18. march — the month
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. clip — for paper
  22. land — ground
  23. fall — the season
  24. lie — an untruth

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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