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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. spell — letters
  4. fall — to drop
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. fall — the season
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. scale — in music
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. sharp — clever
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. game — wild animals
  16. spell — magic
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. game — a match
  19. scale — size or range
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. spell — a short time
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. sharp — with an edge

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