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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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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — to come from
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. rash — hasty
  10. swing — music
  11. craft — boats
  12. row — to paddle
  13. craft — a skill
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. swing — to play on
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. swing — in golf
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — a line
  24. wind — moving air

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