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

Word bank: cold · root · pit · wake · stand · present · fall · clip

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wake — a trail
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. clip — to cut
  7. present — there
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. present — the time now
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. fall — to drop
  17. root — of a word
  18. fall — the season
  19. root — the cause
  20. clip — a video
  21. present — a gift
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. root — of a plant

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