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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wake — a trail
  6. chest — a box
  7. file — a tool
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. file — a document
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. season — in sport
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. pit — in a race
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. chest — of your body
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. season — of the year
  21. pit — a hole
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. mine — for digging

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