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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fork — in a road
  3. bound — obliged
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. last — final
  6. bound — certain
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bound — tied together
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spell — magic
  11. hand — help
  12. file — a tool
  13. spell — a short time
  14. file — a document
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wind — moving air
  17. hand — in cards
  18. last — to go on
  19. wind — moving air
  20. spell — letters
  21. fall — the season
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. last — finally
  24. fork — to eat with

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