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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 116 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. lean — to bend
  4. file — a line of people
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. kid — child
  9. lie — to recline
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. shower — rain
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bear — the animal
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. file — a document
  17. kid — to tease
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. file — a tool
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bass — low music
  24. bass — the instrument

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