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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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. wake — before a funeral
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fall — to drop
  6. spring — the season
  7. fall — the season
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — for dancing
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. fall — to drop
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. spring — a coil
  17. club — for golf
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. cap — of ice
  22. wake — a trail
  23. spring — of water
  24. club — a group

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