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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. ball — a dance
  4. lie — to recline
  5. ball — a great time
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wind — moving air
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. cold — not warm
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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