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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. track — a song
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lean — to bend
  6. track — to keep track
  7. hand — in cards
  8. fall — the season
  9. lean — thin
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bound — obliged
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. track — a path
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cold — not warm
  19. spring — the season
  20. bound — tied together
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bound — certain
  23. fall — to drop
  24. lean — to rest against

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