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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. land — a country
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. fall — the season
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. branch — a division
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. fall — to drop
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wake — a trail
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. date — the fruit

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