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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. land — to come down
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. rest — a break
  12. track — a song
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wound — an injury
  15. chest — of your body
  16. track — a path
  17. track — to keep track
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. land — ground
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chest — a box
  22. fall — the season
  23. rest — what's left
  24. land — a country

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