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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bear — the animal
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. file — a document
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. season — of the year
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. season — in sport
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wind — moving air
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. stock — goods
  15. file — a tool
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. firm — decided
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. stock — shares
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bear — the animal
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. firm — a company

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