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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rush · tube · wind · face · charge · jam · roll · cold

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. charge — a price
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. cold — not warm
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. charge — electricity
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — a container
  13. face — to point toward
  14. roll — a list
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. charge — in control
  18. roll — a cake
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. rush — hurry
  22. wind — moving air
  23. face — part of the head
  24. jam — in traffic

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