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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. track — a path
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bass — the fish
  6. wind — moving air
  7. press — newspapers
  8. track — to keep track
  9. press — to push
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fall — the season
  12. press — a publisher
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. capital — money
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bank — for money
  18. track — a song
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bass — low music
  22. capital — a city
  23. bank — of a river
  24. bank — for money

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