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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fall · lean · band · land · bat · scale · snap · chip

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. land — ground
  5. scale — size or range
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. chip — to eat
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. lean — to bend
  10. scale — in music
  11. chip — for betting
  12. land — a country
  13. band — a ring
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. lean — thin
  16. snap — to click
  17. fall — the season
  18. band — a music group
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. land — to come down
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. chip — in a computer

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