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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: wind · patient · lie · toast · scale · file · date · hand

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. file — a tool
  4. toast — bread
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. scale — size or range
  8. lie — to recline
  9. file — a document
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. scale — in music
  15. date — the fruit
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. hand — in cards
  24. file — a line of people

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