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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. capital — money
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stem — to come from
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. pit — a hole
  18. rush — hurry
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pit — in a race
  23. capital — a city
  24. coach — a trainer

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