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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. scale — in music
  4. fall — the season
  5. suit — clothes
  6. hand — help
  7. suit — in cards
  8. field — for sport
  9. suit — to fit
  10. rest — a break
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — farmland
  16. fall — to drop
  17. clip — a video
  18. scale — size or range
  19. saw — the tool
  20. hand — in cards
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rest — what's left
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. saw — the tool

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