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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. key — the most important part
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — help
  6. stem — to come from
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ball — a great time
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. key — for a lock
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. fork — in a road
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. key — in music
  21. fall — the season
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. ball — a dance

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