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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. rock — a stone
  8. spring — of water
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. spring — the season
  12. wind — moving air
  13. shower — rain
  14. spring — a coil
  15. lie — to recline
  16. shower — to wash
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wind — moving air
  21. rock — music
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. cold — an illness

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