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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. fall — to drop
  3. craft — boats
  4. roll — a list
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. craft — a skill
  17. roll — a cake
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fall — to drop
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fall — the season
  24. file — a line of people

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