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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fall — the season
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — a skill
  8. mug — a cup
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cold — an illness
  11. file — a tool
  12. bass — low music
  13. file — a document
  14. mug — a face
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. craft — boats
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bass — the fish
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. mug — to rob

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