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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cue — a hint
  3. track — a song
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. track — to keep track
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. last — to go on
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pit — a hole
  14. bass — low music
  15. bass — the fish
  16. pit — in a race
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bat — the animal
  20. cue — a signal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. last — final
  23. track — a path
  24. last — finally

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