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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. lean — to bend
  6. press — a publisher
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ground — a position
  9. fall — to drop
  10. lean — thin
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. press — to push
  14. press — newspapers
  15. fall — the season
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — crushed
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fall — to drop

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