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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. rest — what's left
  4. last — to go on
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. wind — moving air
  7. net — after costs
  8. rest — a break
  9. fall — to drop
  10. net — in sport
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. last — final
  13. wind — moving air
  14. net — for catching
  15. capital — a city
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. capital — money
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fall — the season
  21. mine — for digging
  22. last — finally
  23. fall — to drop
  24. rest — what's left

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