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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. fall — to drop
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stem — to come from
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cell — a phone
  11. last — finally
  12. cold — an illness
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. dip — to sink
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. kick — in football
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bark — to shout
  21. fall — the season
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. kick — a thrill

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