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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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468
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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. game — a match
  3. wind — moving air
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. fall — the season
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. tear — from crying
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. wind — moving air
  17. march — music
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. tear — from crying
  20. march — the month
  21. tear — to rip
  22. fall — to drop
  23. game — wild animals
  24. rush — hurry

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