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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. land — a country
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. cold — not warm
  6. present — a gift
  7. suit — clothes
  8. drill — army training
  9. land — ground
  10. suit — in cards
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. present — the time now
  15. drill — the tool
  16. land — to come down
  17. lean — thin
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. suit — to fit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. drill — a practice
  23. cold — an illness
  24. present — there

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