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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. net — in sport
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. court — of a king
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bore — to drill
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wound — an injury
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. fall — the season
  15. fall — to drop
  16. net — after costs
  17. wind — moving air
  18. court — of law
  19. bore — to tire
  20. wind — moving air
  21. court — for sport
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. cell — in biology
  24. net — for catching

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