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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. charge — electricity
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. chest — a box
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wake — a trail
  13. field — for sport
  14. bore — to drill
  15. charge — a price
  16. chest — of your body
  17. field — a subject
  18. wind — moving air
  19. row — a line
  20. field — farmland
  21. chest — of your body
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. charge — in control
  24. row — to paddle

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