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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. net — for catching
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. land — a country
  7. mine — for digging
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. net — in sport
  10. current — electric
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. rush — hurry
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. prune — to trim
  16. current — of water
  17. land — to come down
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. land — ground
  20. wake — a trail
  21. prune — to trim
  22. net — after costs
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. current — happening now

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