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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wind — moving air
  7. key — in music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. key — for a lock
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. key — the most important part
  17. file — a tool
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bat — for baseball
  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