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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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Word bank
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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. field — farmland
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spell — magic
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. field — a subject
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. dip — to sink
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. field — for sport
  20. spell — a short time
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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