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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. present — a gift
  4. scale — size or range
  5. fall — the season
  6. stem — to come from
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. fall — to drop
  10. present — there
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. scale — in music
  13. bass — low music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stand — to bear
  17. wound — an injury
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. bass — the fish
  20. present — the time now
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. stem — of a plant

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