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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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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: chair · fall · march · kick · snap · wound · content · pop

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. kick — in football
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. content — happy
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — music
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. fall — the season
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. content — the amount
  13. snap — to click
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. pop — to visit
  18. chair — a leader
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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