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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. tear — from crying
  4. court — for sport
  5. spell — letters
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spell — magic
  8. court — of a king
  9. toast — bread
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. court — of law
  13. bass — low music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bass — the fish
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. cold — not warm
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. tear — to rip

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