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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 120 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. fall — to drop
  9. drill — army training
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — a trace
  17. wind — moving air
  18. drill — a practice
  19. fall — the season
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. drill — the tool
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to click

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