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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 116 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. fall — to drop
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. dip — to sink
  6. saw — the tool
  7. fall — to drop
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spell — magic
  15. lean — thin
  16. spell — a short time
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. lean — to bend
  19. fall — the season
  20. wound — an injury
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — music
  23. spell — letters
  24. stem — to come from

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