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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. rest — a break
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. lean — to bend
  7. spring — the season
  8. rest — what's left
  9. race — humankind
  10. race — a contest
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. rest — what's left
  13. spring — of water
  14. wake — a trail
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. race — the arms race
  17. spring — a coil
  18. band — a music group
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a hat
  23. band — a ring
  24. fall — the season

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