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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 116 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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. object — an aim
  3. clip — a video
  4. object — to protest
  5. charge — electricity
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. face — to point toward
  9. perch — the fish
  10. charge — a price
  11. fall — to drop
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cold — not warm
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. fall — the season
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. charge — in control
  20. face — to confront
  21. pit — in a race
  22. cold — an illness
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. object — a thing

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