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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. scale — size or range
  6. fall — the season
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kid — to tease
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. suit — clothes
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. suit — in cards
  13. kid — child
  14. wake — a trail
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. date — the fruit
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. clip — a video
  20. suit — to fit
  21. scale — in music
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. clip — to cut

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