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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. file — a line of people
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stand — to bear
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. fall — the season
  12. hand — help
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bat — the animal

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