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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fall — to drop
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. fall — to drop
  6. mine — for digging
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. club — for golf
  9. press — a publisher
  10. press — to push
  11. vault — a safe
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. spell — a short time
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fall — the season
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wind — moving air
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. club — for dancing
  20. cell — a phone
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. press — newspapers
  23. club — a group
  24. cell — in biology

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