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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. present — a gift
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bat — the animal
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. present — there
  10. craft — boats
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. kid — child
  13. fall — to drop
  14. can — a tin
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. fall — the season
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — hasty
  19. can — a tin
  20. can — to be able to
  21. present — the time now
  22. craft — a skill
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. bat — in an idiom

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