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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. cold — not warm
  3. file — a line of people
  4. season — of the year
  5. fall — to drop
  6. file — a tool
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. cold — an illness
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. season — in sport
  12. file — a document
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. spell — letters
  15. lean — thin
  16. spell — magic
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. spell — a short time
  21. lean — to bend
  22. fall — to drop
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. deal — to handle

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