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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. club — for golf
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. lean — to bend
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. cold — an illness
  13. march — the month
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. bat — the animal
  16. club — for dancing
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chest — of your body
  20. club — a group
  21. lean — thin
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. chest — a box

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