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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. hand — help
  6. file — a tool
  7. lean — thin
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. wind — moving air
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chip — to eat
  18. fall — the season
  19. file — a document
  20. hand — in cards
  21. chip — for betting
  22. file — a line of people
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. fall — to drop

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