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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — employees
  4. staff — a stick
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. wake — a trail
  7. mug — a face
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — to paddle
  10. stem — to come from
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fall — the season
  14. tube — a container
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. tube — the underground
  19. mug — to rob
  20. mug — a cup
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. row — a line
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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