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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. band — a music group
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. scale — in music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. press — a publisher
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. press — to push
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. scale — size or range
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. press — newspapers
  15. band — a ring
  16. bear — the animal
  17. shower — rain
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. band — a rubber band

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