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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. craft — boats
  3. fall — to drop
  4. stem — to come from
  5. band — a ring
  6. object — to protest
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. band — a music group
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. roll — a cake
  13. craft — a skill
  14. object — a thing
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. object — an aim
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. wake — a trail
  23. roll — a list
  24. band — a rubber band

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