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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've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bank — for money
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — letters
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stand — to bear
  12. current — happening now
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bank — of a river
  15. bank — for money
  16. drill — army training
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. drill — a practice
  20. current — of water
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — magic
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. current — electric

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