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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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468
Word bank
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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. present — the time now
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. rest — a break
  5. lean — to bend
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. rest — what's left
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. present — a gift
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kick — in football
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cold — an illness
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. lean — thin
  19. rest — what's left
  20. present — there
  21. wax — to grow
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. cold — not warm
  24. nail — on a finger

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