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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. stand — to bear
  3. bear — the animal
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. clip — a video
  6. roll — a cake
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. fall — the season
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. row — a line
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — to cut
  14. row — to paddle
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. scale — in music
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. clip — for paper
  19. scale — size or range
  20. roll — a list
  21. degree — temperature
  22. fall — to drop
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bear — the animal

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