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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. rush — hurry
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — certain
  8. fall — to drop
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. row — a line
  16. bound — obliged
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. fall — the season
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bark — to shout
  21. row — to paddle
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. kick — in football
  24. straw — dry grass

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