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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. prune — to trim
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. charge — in control
  5. cold — an illness
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fall — to drop
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. clip — for paper
  12. board — to get on
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. charge — electricity
  18. board — a committee
  19. charge — a price
  20. fall — the season
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. clip — a video

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