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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. charge — electricity
  3. march — music
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. fall — to drop
  6. plane — a tool
  7. kid — to tease
  8. last — final
  9. kid — child
  10. last — to go on
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. dip — to sink
  13. last — finally
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. march — the month
  18. fall — the season
  19. march — the month
  20. fork — in a road
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. charge — in control
  24. charge — a price

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