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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. rock — a stone
  6. hand — help
  7. lean — to bend
  8. net — after costs
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mine — for digging
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. net — in sport
  14. rash — hasty
  15. hand — in cards
  16. net — for catching
  17. rash — a series
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. rock — music
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rash — on the skin

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