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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · hand · chair · wake · net · sharp · cell · drill

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — army training
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. net — in sport
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chair — a leader
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — help
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. drill — a practice
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. sharp — clever
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. net — for catching
  20. cell — in biology
  21. fall — to drop
  22. net — after costs
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. hand — part of the body

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