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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fall — to drop
  4. clip — for paper
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. chest — a box
  7. fall — to drop
  8. club — for dancing
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — magic
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. land — ground
  14. club — a group
  15. clip — a video
  16. club — for golf
  17. spell — letters
  18. clip — to cut
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fall — the season
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. land — a country

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