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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. ground — a position
  3. court — for sport
  4. ground — the earth
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. ground — crushed
  8. chip — to eat
  9. chip — for betting
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cell — a phone
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. court — of a king
  15. fall — the season
  16. rock — music
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. court — of law
  19. rock — a stone
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. cell — in biology
  24. coach — a trainer

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