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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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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. cold — not warm
  5. land — a country
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. rule — a law
  10. mug — a face
  11. wax — to grow
  12. fall — the season
  13. land — ground
  14. drill — army training
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. rule — government
  18. land — to come down
  19. drill — the tool
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. mug — a cup
  22. fall — to drop
  23. mug — to rob
  24. cold — the Cold War

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