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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 124 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. degree — temperature
  3. fall — the season
  4. file — a line of people
  5. ball — a great time
  6. rock — a stone
  7. ball — a dance
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. ground — a position
  11. rock — music
  12. suit — clothes
  13. suit — to fit
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. file — a document
  16. fall — to drop
  17. file — a tool
  18. suit — in cards
  19. degree — an amount
  20. ground — crushed
  21. degree — from a university
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. mine — for digging
  24. mine — an explosive

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