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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wound — an injury
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. content — the amount
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wind — moving air
  7. branch — a division
  8. content — happy
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. kick — in football
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. snap — to click
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cold — the Cold War

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