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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. spring — of water
  11. drill — the tool
  12. spring — a coil
  13. drill — army training
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. wound — an injury
  19. drill — a practice
  20. wax — to grow
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. spring — the season

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