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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. spring — the season
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. file — a line of people
  5. suit — in cards
  6. fall — to drop
  7. board — a committee
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. spring — a coil
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bat — the animal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. fall — the season
  15. clip — a video
  16. board — to get on
  17. file — a tool
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. file — a document
  21. suit — clothes
  22. spring — of water
  23. clip — to cut
  24. suit — to fit

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