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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. chest — a box
  3. row — a line
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spring — a coil
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. spring — the season
  12. current — happening now
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. spring — of water
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wound — an injury
  17. current — of water
  18. row — to paddle
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. current — electric
  21. cell — in biology
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cell — a phone

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