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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. row — to paddle
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. wake — a trail
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. rush — hurry
  13. row — a line
  14. season — of the year
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. season — in sport
  17. shower — rain
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wind — moving air
  24. patient — a sick person

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