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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. march — the month
  3. object — an aim
  4. net — for catching
  5. shower — rain
  6. wind — moving air
  7. march — music
  8. net — after costs
  9. object — to protest
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bass — low music
  12. object — a thing
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. fall — the season
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. march — the month
  20. fall — to drop
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. bass — the fish
  23. shower — to wash
  24. net — in sport

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