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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. cell — a phone
  6. pit — in a race
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — a hole
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wake — a trail
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. cell — in biology
  17. clip — a video
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. hide — to keep secret

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