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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: wake · cold · fine · lash · wind · court · pit · mine

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fine — all right
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. pit — a hole
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. court — for sport
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pit — in a race
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. court — of a king
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. fine — high quality
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mine — for digging
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wake — a trail

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