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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. key — the most important part
  4. chair — a leader
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. capital — money
  8. fall — to drop
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wind — moving air
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wind — moving air
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. club — for dancing
  17. clip — a video
  18. club — a group
  19. key — for a lock
  20. row — to paddle
  21. capital — a city
  22. club — for golf
  23. clip — for paper
  24. key — in music

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