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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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468
Word bank
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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pit — in a race
  4. march — the month
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. spring — the season
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — of water
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. game — a match
  12. staff — employees
  13. cell — a phone
  14. staff — a stick
  15. staff — employees
  16. lean — to bend
  17. game — wild animals
  18. pit — a hole
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. lean — thin
  23. fall — the season
  24. march — 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