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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · fan · drill · wake · wound · march · wind · season

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. drill — army training
  8. wind — moving air
  9. drill — the tool
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. season — in sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. season — of the year
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — music
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. march — the month
  21. drill — a practice
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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