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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rush — hurry
  3. field — farmland
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. rest — what's left
  6. field — for sport
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. capital — a city
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. field — a subject
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wake — a trail
  24. pitcher — a jug

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