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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. charge — electricity
  6. rush — hurry
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. chip — to eat
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. charge — a price
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. charge — in control
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. chip — for betting
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wake — a trail

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