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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. mug — to rob
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. club — for golf
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tube — a container
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. charge — electricity
  11. club — for dancing
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. club — a group
  14. mug — a cup
  15. spring — a coil
  16. tube — the underground
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. wind — moving air
  19. charge — in control
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. charge — a price
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. cold — an illness

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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