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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. hand — part of the body
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. race — a contest
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. hand — help
  14. swing — in golf
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. race — humankind
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. race — the arms race
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. mine — for digging
  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