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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cell — a phone
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cell — in biology
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bat — the animal
  8. degree — temperature
  9. spell — magic
  10. foot — a measure
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — a short time
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. fall — to drop
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. fall — the season
  20. sharp — clever
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. fan — a supporter

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