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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. staff — a stick
  6. lie — to recline
  7. wind — moving air
  8. mine — for digging
  9. capital — money
  10. present — there
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. present — a gift
  14. staff — employees
  15. present — the time now
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a line of people
  18. capital — a city
  19. row — to paddle
  20. file — a document
  21. row — a line
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. staff — employees

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