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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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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  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. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. spell — letters
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. shower — rain
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. stem — to come from
  10. spell — magic
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. chest — a box
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. shower — to wash
  17. spell — a short time
  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