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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. swing — in golf
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. mark — a grade
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. scale — size or range
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. object — to protest
  13. scale — in music
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. last — finally
  16. object — a thing
  17. fall — to drop
  18. mark — a trace
  19. object — an aim
  20. swing — to play on
  21. fall — the season
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wake — a trail

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