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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rock — a stone
  3. face — to confront
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. face — to point toward
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. track — a song
  14. track — to keep track
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mine — for digging
  17. face — part of the head
  18. track — a path
  19. file — a document
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. file — a tool
  22. squash — the sport
  23. rock — music
  24. squash — to crush

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