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

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — to bend
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. drill — army training
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. drill — a practice
  8. object — to protest
  9. shower — to wash
  10. rush — hurry
  11. lean — thin
  12. drill — the tool
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. shower — rain
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. object — a thing
  18. object — an aim

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