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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pop — music
  3. land — a country
  4. pop — to visit
  5. bass — low music
  6. dip — to sink
  7. firm — steady
  8. fall — the season
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. land — ground
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. land — to come down
  15. bass — the fish
  16. pop — soda
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. firm — a company
  21. fall — to drop
  22. firm — decided
  23. cell — a phone
  24. kid — to tease

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