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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 knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. pit — in a race
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pit — a hole
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wind — moving air
  12. spell — letters
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — to wash
  19. spell — magic
  20. shower — rain
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. bat — in an idiom

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