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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cell — a phone
  3. mug — to rob
  4. march — the month
  5. staff — a stick
  6. mug — a face
  7. prune — to trim
  8. staff — employees
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. march — the month
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. mug — a cup
  13. wake — a trail
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. prune — to trim
  19. row — to paddle
  20. row — a line
  21. cell — in biology
  22. staff — employees
  23. march — music
  24. wake — before a funeral

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