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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. cell — in biology
  9. wound — an injury
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. cell — a phone
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. chair — a leader
  24. cold — not warm

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