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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  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. pound — a weight
  2. mark — a grade
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. fall — to drop
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bulb — for light
  8. mark — a trace
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. bulb — for light
  11. fall — to drop
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. fall — the season
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. game — wild animals
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. game — a match
  23. bulb — 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