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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wake — a trail
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. stem — to come from
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. date — the fruit
  9. chair — a leader
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. kick — in football
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fall — the season
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. fall — to drop
  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