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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. pop — music
  7. squash — the sport
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pop — soda
  10. wind — moving air
  11. squash — to crush
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. degree — from a university
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. row — a line
  16. rule — a law
  17. degree — an amount
  18. rule — government
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. snap — to click
  21. degree — temperature
  22. row — to paddle
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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