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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: present · land · cabinet · fall · hand · wake · row · field

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. fall — to drop
  3. hand — in cards
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. land — ground
  6. hand — help
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. field — farmland
  11. present — there
  12. present — the time now
  13. fall — the season
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. present — a gift
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. field — a subject
  19. land — a country
  20. row — a line
  21. field — for sport
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. land — to come down

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