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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. wind — moving air
  3. spell — a short time
  4. stock — goods
  5. staff — a stick
  6. land — ground
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. staff — employees
  11. row — a line
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. land — to come down
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. spell — letters
  20. land — a country
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spell — magic
  24. tear — from crying

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