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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rush — hurry
  7. bulb — for light
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. wound — an injury
  11. net — in sport
  12. wind — moving air
  13. drill — army training
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. net — for catching
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. net — after costs
  23. bulb — for light
  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