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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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468
Word bank
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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. fine — all right
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. file — a tool
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. fine — high quality
  8. wind — moving air
  9. club — for golf
  10. season — of the year
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. club — for dancing
  14. file — a line of people
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. wind — moving air
  17. club — a group
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. file — a document
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pitch — completely
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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