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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. roll — a list
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. face — to confront
  5. saw — the tool
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stem — to come from
  9. face — to point toward
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. bat — the animal
  12. rash — a series
  13. roll — a cake
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. capital — money
  20. face — part of the head
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. saw — the tool
  24. capital — a city

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