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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wound — an injury
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. shower — rain
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — in music
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. swing — music
  13. shower — to wash
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. rush — hurry
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. wound — an injury
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. kick — in football
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. scale — size or range
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. plane — a tool

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