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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 ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. court — for sport
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. court — of law
  9. lean — to bend
  10. capital — money
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. fall — to drop
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. lean — thin
  16. court — of a king
  17. march — music
  18. fall — the season
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. march — the month
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. march — the month
  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