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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. cold — not warm
  3. fall — to drop
  4. sharp — clever
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fall — to drop
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. lean — thin
  9. clip — for paper
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. lean — to bend
  12. clip — a video
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bulb — for light
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. bulb — for light
  20. fall — the season
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. pass — a permit
  24. sharp — exactly

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