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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. file — a tool
  4. spring — the season
  5. wake — a trail
  6. swing — in golf
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — music
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. ball — a great time
  12. spring — a coil
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. spell — letters
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. file — a line of people
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. spring — of water
  20. ball — a dance
  21. file — a document
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — magic

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