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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 116 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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468
Word bank
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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — moving air
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. key — in music
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spell — magic
  8. key — the most important part
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. spell — letters
  12. clip — for paper
  13. key — for a lock
  14. clip — a video
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. spell — a short time
  20. clip — to cut
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. wind — moving air
  23. deal — to handle
  24. fall — the season

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