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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. last — final
  4. bound — certain
  5. last — to go on
  6. bound — tied together
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. file — a document
  12. fall — to drop
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. file — a tool
  15. bound — obliged
  16. bat — the animal
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. wax — to grow
  19. last — finally
  20. file — a line of people
  21. kick — in football
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — for baseball

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