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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 locked up in a ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. cold — an illness
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. drill — a practice
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. cell — in biology
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. drill — the tool
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stem — to come from
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. fall — to drop
  19. drill — army training
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cold — not warm
  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