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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. prune — to trim
  4. swing — to play on
  5. prune — to trim
  6. face — part of the head
  7. track — a song
  8. wind — moving air
  9. swing — in golf
  10. wind — moving air
  11. track — a path
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. swing — music
  17. shower — rain
  18. face — to point toward
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. face — to confront
  21. shower — to wash
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. fork — in a road
  24. track — to keep track

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