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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. row — a line
  3. cell — a phone
  4. fall — the season
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cell — in biology
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a lid
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. firm — a company
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. hand — help
  20. firm — steady
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. dip — to sink
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. firm — decided

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