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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cold — not warm
  4. track — a path
  5. craft — a skill
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. track — a song
  8. file — a tool
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bear — the animal
  16. track — to keep track
  17. bear — the animal
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pass — a permit
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. craft — boats
  22. file — a document
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. wind — moving air

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