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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. charge — a price
  4. ground — a position
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bank — for money
  10. mine — for digging
  11. charge — in control
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bank — for money
  17. charge — electricity
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — crushed
  20. rash — a series
  21. bank — of a river
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — hasty

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