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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. cell — a phone
  5. clip — for paper
  6. stock — shares
  7. clip — a video
  8. fall — to drop
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. stock — goods
  12. clip — to cut
  13. track — a path
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. fall — the season
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. track — a song
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. track — to keep track

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