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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 120 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mate — a friend
  3. root — the cause
  4. root — of a word
  5. rash — hasty
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. mate — a partner
  8. kid — child
  9. fall — to drop
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. fall — the season
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. bat — the animal
  18. kid — to tease
  19. root — of a plant
  20. mate — to breed
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — in music
  24. bat — for baseball

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