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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. cap — a hat
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cap — a lid
  7. wound — an injury
  8. file — a tool
  9. rash — hasty
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bear — the animal
  15. rash — a series
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. bear — the animal
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. cap — of ice
  24. file — a document

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