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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. firm — decided
  3. fall — to drop
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. club — for dancing
  6. bass — the fish
  7. stem — to come from
  8. club — for golf
  9. hand — in cards
  10. club — a group
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. fall — the season
  13. bass — low music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cold — an illness
  17. firm — a company
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. fall — to drop
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. hand — help
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. firm — steady
  24. stem — of a plant

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