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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. bound — certain
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. net — in sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bound — tied together
  7. net — for catching
  8. shower — to wash
  9. net — after costs
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. wind — moving air
  15. shower — rain
  16. ground — crushed
  17. bound — obliged
  18. ground — a position
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. kid — child
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. ground — the earth
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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