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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mine — for digging
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. swing — to play on
  9. rash — a series
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fall — to drop
  12. rash — hasty
  13. present — the time now
  14. present — there
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wind — moving air
  17. present — a gift
  18. fall — the season
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wound — an injury
  22. kick — in football
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — in golf

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