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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 giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. suit — clothes
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. stem — to come from
  7. kid — child
  8. fall — to drop
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. file — a tool
  11. tear — to rip
  12. suit — to fit
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. fall — the season
  17. file — a line of people
  18. sharp — clever
  19. suit — in cards
  20. tear — from crying
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. file — a document
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. sharp — exactly

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