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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 120 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chest — a box
  4. game — wild animals
  5. spell — magic
  6. can — a tin
  7. chest — of your body
  8. spell — letters
  9. can — a tin
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. swing — in golf
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. chest — of your body
  18. swing — music
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — a match
  21. can — to be able to
  22. swing — to play on
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. spell — a short time

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