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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 geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cue — a signal
  6. rock — music
  7. plane — a tool
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cue — for pool
  10. cue — a hint
  11. hand — in cards
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. rock — a stone
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spring — the season
  22. fall — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. cold — not warm

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