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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pit — in a race
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. fall — the season
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fall — to drop
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. clip — to cut
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. wake — a trail
  15. drill — army training
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. pit — a hole
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — a video
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. drill — a practice
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. drill — the tool

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