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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 120 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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. land — to come down
  3. fall — to drop
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. fall — the season
  7. file — a tool
  8. kid — to tease
  9. file — a document
  10. fall — to drop
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. land — ground
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. snap — to click
  15. season — of the year
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. file — a line of people
  18. stem — to come from
  19. land — a country
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. kid — child
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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