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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. rush — hurry
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. ball — a dance
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. file — a line of people
  10. band — a music group
  11. wound — an injury
  12. band — a ring
  13. ball — a great time
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a tool
  20. chest — a box
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. sharp — clever

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