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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. spring — of water
  4. mug — a face
  5. file — a tool
  6. mug — to rob
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. spring — a coil
  9. file — a line of people
  10. wind — moving air
  11. court — of law
  12. file — a document
  13. mug — a cup
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. spring — the season
  17. march — music
  18. stem — to come from
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — for sport
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. dip — to sink
  24. wind — moving air

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