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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bass — low music
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — not warm
  5. sharp — clever
  6. last — to go on
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. cold — an illness
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. last — finally
  16. bass — the fish
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. field — for sport
  21. last — final
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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