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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: fall · bat · file · cell · row · band · wave · object

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. file — a tool
  6. band — a ring
  7. object — to protest
  8. row — a line
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — a phone
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. object — an aim
  14. row — to paddle
  15. band — a music group
  16. object — a thing
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — the season
  24. bat — the animal

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