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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wind — moving air
  4. suit — to fit
  5. march — the month
  6. game — a match
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. march — music
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. wound — an injury
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. game — wild animals
  15. suit — clothes
  16. suit — in cards
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — not warm
  22. march — the month
  23. cold — an illness
  24. row — a line

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