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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. rock — a stone
  3. plane — a tool
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. branch — a division
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wind — moving air
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. fine — high quality
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. squash — to crush
  13. rock — music
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fine — all right
  24. cold — an illness

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