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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. charge — electricity
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rock — a stone
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cell — in biology
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. fall — the season
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wake — a trail
  15. land — a country
  16. charge — a price
  17. land — to come down
  18. charge — in control
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. rock — music
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. fall — to drop
  23. tear — to rip
  24. land — ground

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