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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. stand — to bear
  3. ground — the earth
  4. tube — a container
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. craft — boats
  7. ground — a position
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fall — the season
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bear — the animal
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. craft — a skill
  18. bear — the animal
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. ground — crushed
  22. bat — the animal
  23. tube — the underground
  24. cold — the Cold War

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