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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 120 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. last — to go on
  4. fall — the season
  5. degree — temperature
  6. last — final
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. content — happy
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. content — the amount
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. last — finally
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. lie — to recline
  23. snap — to click
  24. chair — a leader

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