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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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. pitch — completely
  3. rock — a stone
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. wind — moving air
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. squash — to crush
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. net — in sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rock — music
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. net — after costs
  24. net — for catching

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