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

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. club — for golf
  3. ground — crushed
  4. club — for dancing
  5. drill — the tool
  6. ball — a great time
  7. drill — a practice
  8. ball — a dance
  9. wind — moving air
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. shower — to wash
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. shower — rain
  16. club — a group
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. drill — army training

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