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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. file — a line of people
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fine — all right
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. fine — high quality
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — not warm
  14. squash — to crush
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. file — a document
  17. squash — the sport
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. wind — moving air
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sports field

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