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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fine — all right
  5. ground — a position
  6. saw — the tool
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. board — to get on
  18. wake — a trail
  19. board — a committee
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. fine — high quality
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. saw — the tool

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