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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 120 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. lean — thin
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. lean — to bend
  9. rule — a law
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. chest — a box
  14. row — a line
  15. fork — in a road
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. rule — government
  18. wake — a trail
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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