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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bulb — for light
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. file — a tool
  9. bulb — for light
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. pit — in a race
  12. date — the fruit
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. hand — help
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. wind — moving air
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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