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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. fall — to drop
  3. root — of a plant
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. fall — the season
  6. pass — a permit
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fall — to drop
  9. last — to go on
  10. squash — the sport
  11. shower — rain
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. root — the cause
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. fine — all right
  17. squash — to crush
  18. root — of a word
  19. shower — to wash
  20. last — finally
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fine — high quality

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