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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. hand — in cards
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. toast — bread
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. race — a contest
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — help
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. clip — for paper
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — a thing
  17. race — humankind
  18. fall — to drop
  19. race — the arms race
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. branch — a division
  24. wake — a trail

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