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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 120 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lean — thin
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. fall — to drop
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. lean — to bend
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. pitch — completely
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. fall — the season
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. game — a match
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. fall — to drop
  24. game — wild animals

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