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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. fall — to drop
  3. staff — employees
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fall — the season
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. staff — employees
  10. hand — in cards
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. fall — to drop
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. squash — the sport
  15. bat — the animal
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. sharp — clever
  19. hand — help
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. rule — a law
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — government
  24. staff — a stick

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