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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fine — all right
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cell — a phone
  6. craft — a skill
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. net — in sport
  9. fall — to drop
  10. clip — a video
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. craft — boats
  13. pound — a weight
  14. clip — for paper
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. net — for catching
  19. cell — in biology
  20. fine — high quality
  21. fall — the season
  22. net — after costs
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. cell — in a prison

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