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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 124 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. land — ground
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cell — a phone
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spring — the season
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. spring — of water
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. land — to come down
  17. pass — a permit
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. land — a country
  22. wind — moving air
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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