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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. cap — of ice
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. mine — for digging
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cap — a hat
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bound — certain
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bound — obliged
  19. shower — rain
  20. cold — not warm
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — a line
  24. cold — the Cold War

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