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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. pop — music
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. can — a tin
  7. file — a document
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — the earth
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — the season
  14. file — a line of people
  15. last — to go on
  16. file — a tool
  17. pop — soda
  18. fall — to drop
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pound — a weight
  21. last — finally
  22. can — a tin
  23. last — final
  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