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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bank — of a river
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. file — a line of people
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. land — ground
  12. bank — for money
  13. cap — a hat
  14. wind — moving air
  15. game — a match
  16. cap — a lid
  17. land — a country
  18. wind — moving air
  19. file — a document
  20. game — wild animals
  21. file — a tool
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. bank — for money
  24. land — to come down

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