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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. capital — a city
  5. pass — a permit
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. craft — a skill
  8. kick — in football
  9. fall — to drop
  10. ground — a position
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. scale — size or range
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. craft — boats
  15. ground — the earth
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. fall — the season
  18. band — a ring
  19. capital — money
  20. band — a music group
  21. ground — crushed
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. scale — in music

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