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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mate — to breed
  3. prune — to trim
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. fall — to drop
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pound — a weight
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bat — the animal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. mine — for digging
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. mate — a partner
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. roll — a cake
  20. roll — a list
  21. fall — the season
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. roll — on a roll

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