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

Word bank: season · last · fall · wind · pound · cold · foot · fork

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. last — final
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. season — in sport
  6. fall — the season
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. last — to go on
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. foot — a measure
  15. pound — a weight
  16. last — finally
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fork — in a road
  20. wind — moving air
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. fall — to drop
  23. season — of the year
  24. foot — the bottom

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