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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bass — the fish
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pit — a hole
  12. ground — a position
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bass — low music
  15. ground — the earth
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. branch — a division
  22. fall — the season
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. ground — crushed

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