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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. scale — in music
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. spring — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — of water
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. mine — for digging
  10. spring — a coil
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. game — a match
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cap — of ice
  17. fall — the season
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — wild animals
  22. cap — a lid
  23. scale — size or range
  24. mouse — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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