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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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. wind — moving air
  4. saw — the tool
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. drill — army training
  7. date — the fruit
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. drill — the tool
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cold — not warm
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. drill — a practice
  24. game — a match

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