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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 120 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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rest — what's left
  4. lean — to bend
  5. lean — thin
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spell — a short time
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rest — what's left
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. object — a thing
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. object — to protest
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. object — an aim
  18. snap — to click
  19. spell — letters
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. spell — magic

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