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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. ball — a dance
  5. last — finally
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. race — the arms race
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fall — to drop
  14. race — humankind
  15. last — to go on
  16. bat — the animal
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. spring — the season
  19. ball — a great time
  20. last — final
  21. spring — of water
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. race — a contest

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