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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. spell — a short time
  3. roll — a cake
  4. spell — letters
  5. game — wild animals
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. game — a match
  10. mug — a face
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tube — a container
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. mug — to rob
  16. cold — an illness
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. rush — hurry
  20. spell — magic
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. mug — a cup
  23. roll — a list
  24. wind — moving air

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