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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bass — low music
  5. cell — a phone
  6. fall — the season
  7. capital — money
  8. bass — the fish
  9. clip — a video
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pit — a hole
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pit — in a race
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cell — in biology
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. capital — a city
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. racket — for tennis

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