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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fall — the season
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. wind — moving air
  7. file — a document
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. date — the fruit
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. club — for dancing
  14. file — a line of people
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. fall — to drop
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. file — a tool
  21. bat — the animal
  22. club — a group
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. club — for golf

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