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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. foot — a measure
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cap — a lid
  8. chest — of your body
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. cap — a hat
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rash — hasty
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fall — the season
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cap — of ice
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. rash — a series
  24. chest — a box

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