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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. capital — money
  5. chest — of your body
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. chest — a box
  9. pop — music
  10. ball — a dance
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. fall — the season
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. field — farmland
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. pop — to visit
  19. bass — low music
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. field — a subject
  23. pop — soda
  24. field — for sport

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