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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. cap — a lid
  4. shower — rain
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. last — finally
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cap — of ice
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. mine — for digging
  12. stock — shares
  13. rule — a law
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. last — final
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rule — government
  18. bat — the animal
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. stock — goods
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. shower — to wash
  24. last — to go on

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