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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 124 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. degree — from a university
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. last — final
  8. stock — goods
  9. lie — to recline
  10. degree — an amount
  11. spell — magic
  12. last — to go on
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. spring — of water
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. spring — the season
  18. last — finally
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. spring — a coil
  21. wind — moving air
  22. stock — shares
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. degree — temperature

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