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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. current — of water
  4. swing — to play on
  5. spring — the season
  6. lean — thin
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. drill — a practice
  10. swing — in golf
  11. current — happening now
  12. swing — music
  13. toast — bread
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. drill — army training
  18. cold — not warm
  19. drill — the tool
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. lean — to bend
  23. current — electric
  24. spring — of water

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