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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. spell — letters
  3. lie — to recline
  4. fall — the season
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spell — a short time
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. scale — size or range
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. spell — magic
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. scale — in music

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