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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. shower — to wash
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. clip — a video
  13. scale — size or range
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. shower — rain
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. lean — to bend
  18. scale — in music
  19. clip — to cut
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. prune — to trim

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