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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — thin
  3. lean — to bend
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fall — the season
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. row — a line
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. fall — to drop
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. row — to paddle
  14. field — for sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. fall — to drop

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