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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 120 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wound — an injury
  3. root — of a word
  4. fall — to drop
  5. board — a committee
  6. fall — the season
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pop — to visit
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spell — magic
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. pop — music
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. root — the cause
  15. spell — letters
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. root — of a plant
  18. perch — the fish
  19. pop — soda
  20. wound — an injury
  21. spell — a short time
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. board — to get on

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