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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. mug — to rob
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. mug — a face
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mug — a cup
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — a tool
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. snap — to click
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fall — the season

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