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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: hide · wound · cold · pit · sharp · wind · present · scale

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. scale — in music
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pit — in a race
  6. present — there
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. scale — size or range
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — the time now
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. wind — moving air
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. present — a gift
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. pit — a hole

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