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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 120 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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. file — a document
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kid — to tease
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. capital — a city
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. spell — letters
  9. net — after costs
  10. kid — child
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. file — a line of people
  13. rush — hurry
  14. spell — magic
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. spell — a short time
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. file — a tool
  20. pass — a permit
  21. wind — moving air
  22. net — for catching
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. net — in sport

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