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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. spell — a short time
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. cold — an illness
  5. race — a contest
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bark — to shout
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — humankind
  10. track — to keep track
  11. fall — to drop
  12. spell — magic
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. wind — moving air
  18. fall — the season
  19. spell — letters
  20. vault — a safe
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. track — a song
  24. track — a path

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