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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wind — moving air
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. file — a document
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. file — a tool
  7. wind — moving air
  8. march — the month
  9. rock — a stone
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. stem — to come from
  15. perch — the fish
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. file — a line of people
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. rock — music
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. perch — for a bird

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