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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. track — a song
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. track — to keep track
  5. wind — moving air
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. land — a country
  8. ground — crushed
  9. land — to come down
  10. rash — hasty
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. season — of the year
  14. fall — to drop
  15. season — in sport
  16. rash — a series
  17. track — a path
  18. capital — a city
  19. land — ground
  20. ground — a position
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. capital — money
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. ground — the earth

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