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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. prune — to trim
  5. field — for sport
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. field — farmland
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. field — a subject
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. wound — an injury
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. mine — for digging
  22. wind — moving air
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. mine — an explosive

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