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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're on a ________________ here.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. file — a tool
  5. cold — not warm
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — a position
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. firm — steady
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. cold — an illness
  12. roll — a list
  13. stand — to bear
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. roll — a cake
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. ground — crushed
  19. firm — decided
  20. firm — a company
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. lean — thin

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