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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. march — the month
  3. fall — to drop
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. fall — the season
  6. march — the month
  7. plane — a tool
  8. hand — help
  9. staff — employees
  10. pop — soda
  11. band — a ring
  12. staff — employees
  13. hand — in cards
  14. staff — a stick
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. pop — to visit
  17. march — music
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. pop — music
  20. row — a line
  21. row — to paddle
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. band — a music group

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