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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. fall — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. firm — decided
  5. spell — letters
  6. court — of law
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. snap — to click
  9. court — of a king
  10. fall — to drop
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spell — magic
  15. stem — to come from
  16. spell — a short time
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. firm — steady
  22. firm — a company
  23. pit — in a race
  24. court — for sport

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