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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. shower — rain
  3. spell — magic
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — a practice
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. net — after costs
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. sharp — clever
  12. spell — a short time
  13. drill — army training
  14. lean — thin
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. spell — letters
  17. net — for catching
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. row — a line
  21. shower — to wash
  22. row — to paddle
  23. net — in sport
  24. row — a quarrel

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