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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. fall — to drop
  3. board — a committee
  4. object — to protest
  5. row — a line
  6. object — a thing
  7. fall — to drop
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. row — to paddle
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. fall — the season
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. object — an aim
  19. branch — a division
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. squash — to crush
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. squash — the sport
  24. board — to get on

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