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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. present — there
  5. root — the cause
  6. ball — a dance
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. cold — not warm
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. root — of a word
  12. root — of a plant
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fall — the season
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. fall — to drop
  19. ball — a great time
  20. cold — an illness
  21. present — the time now
  22. shower — to wash
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. present — a gift

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