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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. content — happy
  3. wind — moving air
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. fall — the season
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. staff — employees
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. staff — a stick
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. content — the amount
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. fall — to drop
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. plane — a tool
  22. cold — not warm
  23. staff — employees
  24. fall — to drop

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