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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. swing — music
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fall — to drop
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wind — moving air
  9. swing — in golf
  10. fall — to drop
  11. land — to come down
  12. pit — in a race
  13. chip — for betting
  14. swing — to play on
  15. land — a country
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. chip — to eat
  18. land — ground
  19. last — final
  20. last — to go on
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. fall — the season
  23. mine — for digging
  24. last — finally

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