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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. content — the amount
  7. wind — moving air
  8. present — a gift
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. spring — of water
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. present — there
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitch — completely
  15. spring — the season
  16. charge — a price
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. cold — not warm
  19. present — the time now
  20. charge — in control
  21. charge — electricity
  22. wind — moving air
  23. content — happy
  24. pitch — a sports field

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