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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. degree — an amount
  6. rash — a series
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. swing — music
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. fall — the season
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. fall — to drop
  21. rash — hasty
  22. degree — temperature
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — in golf

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