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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. cap — a hat
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. stock — goods
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. drill — the tool
  14. scale — in music
  15. wake — a trail
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — an illness
  18. saw — the tool
  19. stock — shares
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — a practice
  22. scale — size or range
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. saw — the tool

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