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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — the season
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. root — the cause
  9. root — of a word
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — to cut
  14. root — of a plant
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mate — a partner
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. fall — to drop
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. clip — a video
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mate — a friend

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