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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. kid — child
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. rest — a break
  5. pound — a weight
  6. cell — in biology
  7. land — a country
  8. cell — a phone
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. land — to come down
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — a trail
  17. plane — a tool
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. rest — what's left
  21. land — ground
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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