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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. wind — moving air
  4. tube — the underground
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. sharp — clever
  7. wake — a trail
  8. branch — a division
  9. wind — moving air
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. bank — of a river
  20. tube — a container
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — for money
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. tube — in a tire

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