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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. mate — to breed
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. rash — hasty
  9. mate — a partner
  10. wound — an injury
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. fall — to drop
  13. capital — money
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. cold — an illness
  18. capital — a city
  19. rash — a series
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. mate — a friend
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pass — a permit

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