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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mark — a grade
  4. march — the month
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. cold — an illness
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mark — a trace
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — in music
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. scale — size or range
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. kick — in football
  24. march — music

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