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

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. fall — to drop
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bat — the animal
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. cold — not warm
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. fall — the season
  16. foot — a measure
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. lean — to bend

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