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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. wind — moving air
  6. fall — to drop
  7. current — electric
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. pit — a hole
  12. rock — music
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. rush — hurry
  18. tear — from crying
  19. current — happening now
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pit — in a race
  23. current — of water
  24. rock — a stone

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