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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — in music
  4. game — a match
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. cap — a lid
  7. prune — to trim
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. wound — an injury
  11. track — a path
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cap — a hat
  14. wound — an injury
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — a short time
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cap — of ice
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. spell — magic
  21. track — a song
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. track — to keep track
  24. scale — size or range

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