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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: spell · cold · stand · present · fall · cell · racket · roll

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spell — letters
  6. stand — to bear
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. fall — to drop
  9. spell — a short time
  10. present — a gift
  11. roll — a list
  12. present — the time now
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cell — in biology
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. fall — to drop
  18. present — there
  19. cell — a phone
  20. spell — magic
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. fall — the season

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