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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. charge — electricity
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wind — moving air
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. cold — an illness
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — clever
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. charge — a price
  12. charge — in control
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. fall — the season
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. season — of the year
  21. wound — an injury
  22. season — in sport
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cold — the Cold War

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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