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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 120 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: snap · squash · last · firm · cap · fall · wound · bat

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bat — the animal
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. firm — decided
  5. last — to go on
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to click
  8. wound — an injury
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. last — finally
  11. cap — of ice
  12. firm — a company
  13. cap — a lid
  14. wound — an injury
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. fall — to drop
  19. squash — the sport
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. firm — steady
  22. cap — a hat
  23. fall — the season
  24. last — final

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