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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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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: game · toast · pound · dip · cold · key · fall · chest

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. key — in music
  3. toast — bread
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. pound — a weight
  7. chest — a box
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. key — for a lock
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fall — to drop
  12. chest — of your body
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. dip — to sink
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. game — a match
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fall — the season
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. chest — of your body
  23. key — the most important part
  24. game — wild animals

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