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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. bat — the animal
  4. wound — an injury
  5. current — happening now
  6. land — to come down
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lean — to bend
  9. land — ground
  10. wound — an injury
  11. current — of water
  12. current — electric
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. lean — thin
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. land — a country
  24. cold — the Cold War

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