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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. last — finally
  3. bulb — for light
  4. clip — a video
  5. land — to come down
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bulb — for light
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. fall — to drop
  15. last — final
  16. clip — to cut
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. last — to go on
  20. fall — the season
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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