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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. race — humankind
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. file — a line of people
  7. race — the arms race
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — to come from
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. mug — a cup
  15. mug — to rob
  16. rash — a series
  17. race — a contest
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. fall — the season
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. mug — a face
  24. fall — to drop

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