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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wind — moving air
  4. saw — the tool
  5. wind — moving air
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. capital — money
  8. prune — to trim
  9. saw — the tool
  10. row — a line
  11. rash — a series
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. capital — a city
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. rash — hasty
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — to eat
  19. prune — to trim
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — size or range
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. row — to paddle

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