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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bank — for money
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. clip — a video
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. clip — for paper
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. fall — the season
  12. spell — a short time
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bank — of a river
  15. ball — a great time
  16. spell — letters
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. fall — to drop
  20. spell — magic
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ball — a dance
  24. bank — for money

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