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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 116 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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. pop — soda
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pop — music
  9. wind — moving air
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. pop — to visit
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. track — a path
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. track — a song
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — for sport
  21. plane — a tool
  22. field — a subject
  23. track — to keep track
  24. plane — in geometry

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