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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — letters
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. chest — of your body
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to click
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. fall — to drop
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. spell — magic
  21. chest — of your body
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. chest — a box
  24. leaves — to go away

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