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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cap — a hat
  3. roll — a cake
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. plane — a tool
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kick — in football
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. cap — of ice
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cap — a lid
  20. file — a document
  21. roll — a list
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. rush — hurry
  24. rush — to hurry

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