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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 116 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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. charge — electricity
  5. charge — in control
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. root — of a word
  9. race — humankind
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. game — wild animals
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. game — a match
  16. prune — to trim
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. charge — a price
  19. fall — to drop
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. root — the cause
  23. root — of a plant
  24. tear — to rip

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