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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. spell — magic
  3. file — a line of people
  4. spell — a short time
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. scale — size or range
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. spell — letters
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bulb — for light
  17. fall — to drop
  18. file — a tool
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. file — a document
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fall — the season
  24. bulb — for light

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