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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: fall · lie · toast · ground · field · net · cabinet · kid

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. toast — bread
  3. net — in sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. ground — crushed
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. net — for catching
  9. ground — the earth
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. field — for sport
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. kid — to tease
  16. net — after costs
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. kid — child
  19. lie — to recline
  20. field — farmland
  21. ground — a position
  22. fall — the season
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. cabinet — ministers

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