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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mine — for digging
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. pit — in a race
  8. clip — for paper
  9. land — a country
  10. wake — a trail
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. pitch — completely
  13. land — ground
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. land — to come down
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. clip — a video
  23. pit — a hole
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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