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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. land — ground
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. root — the cause
  10. land — to come down
  11. root — of a word
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. wake — a trail
  15. track — to keep track
  16. face — part of the head
  17. track — a path
  18. tube — the underground
  19. face — to confront
  20. face — to point toward
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. track — a song
  23. land — a country
  24. root — of a plant

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