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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. fall — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. chip — for betting
  6. land — ground
  7. charge — a price
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. race — humankind
  10. charge — in control
  11. race — a contest
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. race — the arms race
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. charge — electricity
  19. fall — to drop
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. chip — to eat
  23. bat — the animal
  24. land — a country

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