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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 116 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fall — to drop
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. club — for dancing
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — a group
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. plane — a tool
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. net — for catching
  18. stem — to come from
  19. net — in sport
  20. degree — from a university
  21. net — after costs
  22. mine — for digging
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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