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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. stock — goods
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. degree — an amount
  6. plane — a tool
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — low music
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bark — to shout
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. degree — from a university
  20. stock — shares
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. wind — moving air
  24. fall — the season

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