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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. rest — what's left
  4. wind — moving air
  5. land — a country
  6. scale — in music
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. land — to come down
  9. wind — moving air
  10. last — final
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rest — what's left
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. land — ground
  20. rest — a break
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — an injury
  23. scale — size or range
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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