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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 124 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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fall — the season
  6. toast — bread
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. ground — crushed
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. shower — rain
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. ground — a position
  15. fall — to drop
  16. rash — a series
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. lie — to recline
  19. game — a match
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. shower — to wash
  22. ground — the earth
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. game — wild animals

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