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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's very handy with a ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. fall — the season
  3. last — final
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. fall — to drop
  6. last — to go on
  7. pop — to visit
  8. scale — in music
  9. saw — the tool
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. pop — music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tube — the underground
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. pop — soda
  20. tube — a container
  21. kick — in football
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. last — finally

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