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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 120 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. staff — a stick
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. capital — a city
  5. staff — employees
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. press — to push
  9. capital — money
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. firm — steady
  14. press — a publisher
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. press — newspapers
  18. wake — a trail
  19. staff — employees
  20. firm — decided
  21. firm — a company
  22. sharp — clever
  23. cold — an illness
  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