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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mug — to rob
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. lean — to bend
  6. drill — a practice
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mug — a cup
  10. roll — a cake
  11. drill — the tool
  12. mug — a face
  13. mark — a trace
  14. drill — army training
  15. lean — thin
  16. mark — a grade
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. cold — an illness
  23. roll — a list
  24. trunk — of a tree

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