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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cold — not warm
  4. last — to go on
  5. wind — moving air
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. last — finally
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rash — a series
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. season — of the year
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. rash — hasty
  21. season — in sport
  22. cold — an illness
  23. branch — a division
  24. last — final

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