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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. fall — to drop
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. board — to get on
  7. fall — to drop
  8. land — to come down
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. wind — moving air
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. land — ground
  14. stem — to come from
  15. fall — the season
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. land — a country
  18. ground — a position
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. ground — the earth
  22. board — a committee
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. stem — of a plant

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