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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. last — to go on
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. march — music
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mine — for digging
  14. last — final
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. pound — a weight
  17. march — the month
  18. last — finally
  19. march — the month
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. wound — an injury

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