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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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. club — for golf
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. band — a ring
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. club — a group
  9. court — of a king
  10. fall — to drop
  11. mark — a trace
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. court — for sport
  14. club — for dancing
  15. band — a music group
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. court — of law
  18. mark — a grade
  19. cell — a phone
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fall — the season
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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