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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. fall — to drop
  4. kid — child
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. mug — a cup
  7. field — for sport
  8. fall — the season
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. mug — to rob
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. kid — to tease
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. field — a subject
  18. mug — a face
  19. shower — to wash
  20. field — farmland
  21. mark — a grade
  22. shower — rain
  23. mark — a trace
  24. wind — moving air

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