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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. stem — to come from
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. vault — a safe
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. fall — the season
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitch — completely
  15. cold — not warm
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. chair — a leader
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. cold — the Cold War

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