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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. pound — a weight
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. stand — to bear
  6. cell — a phone
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. snap — to click
  11. race — humankind
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. race — the arms race
  18. fall — the season
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. pitch — completely
  24. race — a contest

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