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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. net — after costs
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. net — in sport
  7. ground — the earth
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. net — for catching
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. pass — a permit
  12. ground — a position
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. file — a tool
  15. chair — a leader
  16. kid — child
  17. ground — crushed
  18. file — a document
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bass — the fish
  21. file — a line of people
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bass — low music
  24. fall — the season

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