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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. wind — moving air
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. bound — certain
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. race — the arms race
  7. row — a line
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wind — moving air
  10. race — humankind
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. bound — obliged
  13. fall — to drop
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. fall — to drop
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bound — tied together
  19. race — a contest
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. degree — from a university
  24. row — to paddle

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