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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fall — to drop
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. last — finally
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — size or range
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. last — final
  12. pit — a hole
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. pitch — completely
  16. scale — in music
  17. hand — in cards
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. pit — in a race
  21. sharp — clever
  22. last — to go on
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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