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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. tear — to rip
  5. file — a document
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. rule — government
  8. tear — from crying
  9. field — for sport
  10. rule — a law
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. field — farmland
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. file — a tool
  17. field — a subject
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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