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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: file · bat · fall · rule · season · race · roll · straw

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. file — a document
  3. rule — a law
  4. race — humankind
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — in sport
  8. fall — to drop
  9. file — a tool
  10. roll — a list
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. race — a contest
  13. rule — government
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. fall — the season
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bat — the animal
  18. file — a line of people
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. roll — a cake
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. rule — to rule out

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