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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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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. spring — the season
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. spring — a coil
  7. land — ground
  8. wind — moving air
  9. game — a match
  10. land — to come down
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. stand — to bear
  16. game — wild animals
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. land — a country
  19. spring — of water
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. wake — a trail

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