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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. track — a path
  6. track — a song
  7. charge — electricity
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. charge — a price
  10. charge — in control
  11. track — to keep track
  12. last — to go on
  13. file — a tool
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — from a university
  16. sharp — clever
  17. file — a document
  18. last — final
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. degree — an amount
  21. file — a line of people
  22. last — finally
  23. degree — temperature
  24. jam — in traffic

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