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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. stock — shares
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rest — a break
  9. court — of a king
  10. chest — of your body
  11. clip — for paper
  12. fall — the season
  13. board — a committee
  14. rest — what's left
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of law
  18. stock — goods
  19. board — to get on
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. rest — what's left
  24. clip — a video

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