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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. file — a tool
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. hand — in cards
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. fall — the season
  13. file — a line of people
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. file — a document
  16. wind — moving air
  17. perch — the fish
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. chair — a leader
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. fall — to drop
  24. temple — a place of worship

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