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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. spell — a short time
  3. fall — to drop
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — the time now
  6. swing — music
  7. present — there
  8. spell — letters
  9. face — part of the head
  10. swing — in golf
  11. fall — to drop
  12. face — to confront
  13. fall — the season
  14. last — to go on
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. capital — a city
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. last — finally
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. face — to point toward
  21. stem — to come from
  22. swing — to play on
  23. spell — magic
  24. capital — money

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