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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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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: cold · wind · wave · fork · fall · root · file · fine

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wind — moving air
  3. root — of a plant
  4. fall — to drop
  5. root — the cause
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. fall — the season
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. fine — all right
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. root — of a word
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. file — a tool
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fine — high quality
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. wave — of the sea

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