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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rash — hasty
  4. fall — the season
  5. stock — goods
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. mine — for digging
  8. stock — shares
  9. capital — a city
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. fall — to drop
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. tear — from crying
  16. capital — money
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. tear — from crying
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — for paper
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. rash — a series
  23. clip — to cut
  24. tear — to rip

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