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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. tube — the underground
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. tube — a container
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. game — a match
  15. key — for a lock
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. key — in music
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. wind — moving air
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. wake — a trail

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