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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. land — ground
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. spell — letters
  7. wake — a trail
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. cell — a phone
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. land — a country
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a list
  14. season — in sport
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. spell — magic
  17. fall — to drop
  18. season — of the year
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. spell — a short time
  22. land — to come down
  23. fall — the season
  24. cell — in biology

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