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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 · mate · bat · rest · land · spring · bank · sharp

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rest — a break
  3. bank — for money
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bank — for money
  6. mate — a friend
  7. bank — of a river
  8. fall — the season
  9. mate — a partner
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. sharp — clever
  13. spring — a coil
  14. land — to come down
  15. rest — what's left
  16. land — ground
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. land — a country
  19. bat — the animal
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. rest — what's left
  24. mate — to breed

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