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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: hand · fall · pass · wind · spring · branch · foot · rule

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rule — government
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fall — to drop
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. spring — the season
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. pass — a permit
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. spring — a coil
  13. fall — the season
  14. wind — moving air
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. hand — in cards
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. rule — a law
  19. hand — help
  20. spring — of water
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. foot — a measure
  23. branch — a division
  24. fall — to drop

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