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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. land — to come down
  4. wind — moving air
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fall — to drop
  9. firm — a company
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. firm — steady
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. pit — in a race
  16. land — a country
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. stem — to come from
  19. firm — decided
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. land — ground
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a match

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