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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. stem — to come from
  3. cap — a hat
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. cap — of ice
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. cell — a phone
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. saw — the tool
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cell — in biology
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. cap — a lid
  20. clip — for paper
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. bear — the animal
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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