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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. lean — to bend
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. file — a line of people
  10. tear — from crying
  11. lean — thin
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cold — an illness
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. staff — employees
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. cold — not warm
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. file — a tool
  22. staff — a stick
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. file — a document

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