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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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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: lean · file · foot · row · bat · fall · pop · perch

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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. pop — soda
  4. lean — to bend
  5. fall — to drop
  6. lean — thin
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. pop — to visit
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. pop — music
  11. row — a line
  12. foot — a measure
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. fall — the season
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. file — a tool
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. perch — the fish
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. perch — for a bird

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