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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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. firm — a company
  4. fall — to drop
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — in sport
  8. shower — to wash
  9. fall — the season
  10. net — for catching
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. capital — money
  14. net — after costs
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. tear — to rip
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — a city
  19. fall — to drop
  20. tear — from crying
  21. shower — rain
  22. firm — steady
  23. wind — moving air
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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