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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wound — an injury
  6. track — a song
  7. current — happening now
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. object — an aim
  10. rash — a series
  11. object — to protest
  12. fall — the season
  13. current — of water
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. track — a path
  17. track — to keep track
  18. current — electric
  19. object — a thing
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — an injury

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