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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — child
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. last — final
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. march — the month
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. march — music
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. march — the month
  18. plane — a tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. wound — an injury
  22. last — finally
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. last — to go on

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