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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bass — the fish
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bass — low music
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. sharp — clever
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stand — to bear
  24. cold — the Cold War

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