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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 drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a line
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. march — music
  8. fall — the season
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — from a university
  13. march — the month
  14. degree — an amount
  15. prune — to trim
  16. scale — in music
  17. march — the month
  18. degree — temperature
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. fall — to drop
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. prune — to trim
  24. nail — for a hammer

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