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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — to paddle
  4. tear — to rip
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fall — the season
  10. row — a line
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. cold — not warm
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. dip — to sink
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. tear — from crying
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. dip — a sauce

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