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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 124 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 the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — an illness
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — for catching
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. plane — a tool
  10. net — after costs
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. dip — to sink
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. chip — for betting
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. fall — to drop
  19. chip — to eat
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. mine — for digging
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. cold — not warm

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