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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. fall — to drop
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. roll — a cake
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. suit — clothes
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. suit — in cards
  16. clip — a video
  17. land — a country
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. roll — a list
  20. saw — the tool
  21. land — ground
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. land — to come down

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