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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pit — a hole
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. saw — the tool
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. staff — employees
  15. stand — to bear
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — the most important part
  18. staff — employees
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mine — for digging
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. key — in music
  24. pit — in a race

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