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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. game — wild animals
  7. craft — a skill
  8. swing — music
  9. craft — boats
  10. game — a match
  11. fall — the season
  12. capital — money
  13. mark — a grade
  14. capital — a city
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. swing — to play on
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — in golf
  20. cell — a phone
  21. mark — a trace
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — in biology
  24. fall — to drop

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