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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. stand — to bear
  3. present — there
  4. present — a gift
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. object — a thing
  7. lean — thin
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. object — an aim
  11. object — to protest
  12. chest — a box
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. chair — a leader
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. spell — magic
  19. lean — to bend
  20. spell — letters
  21. present — the time now
  22. spell — a short time
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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