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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. object — an aim
  3. land — a country
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cell — in biology
  8. object — a thing
  9. tear — from crying
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. fall — to drop
  13. object — to protest
  14. land — ground
  15. tube — a container
  16. cell — a phone
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fall — the season
  21. tear — to rip
  22. fall — to drop
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. tube — the underground

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