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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. present — there
  3. rest — a break
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rest — what's left
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. club — for dancing
  8. fall — the season
  9. stem — to come from
  10. fall — to drop
  11. present — a gift
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. club — for golf
  15. rest — what's left
  16. pitch — completely
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. last — finally
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. last — final
  21. present — the time now
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. last — to go on
  24. fall — to drop

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