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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — to cut
  4. kick — in football
  5. fall — the season
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — a contest
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. clip — for paper
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. fall — to drop
  19. race — humankind
  20. clip — a video
  21. capital — a city
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — a division
  24. capital — money

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