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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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Word bank
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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wound — an injury
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cue — a hint
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. race — a contest
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. spell — letters
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. race — the arms race
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. pitch — completely
  19. cue — for pool
  20. spell — a short time
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stem — to come from
  23. fall — the season
  24. race — humankind

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