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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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. chair — a leader
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. tear — from crying
  6. band — a music group
  7. season — of the year
  8. tear — from crying
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. spell — letters
  11. tear — to rip
  12. spell — a short time
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. race — a contest
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. race — the arms race
  17. season — in sport
  18. snap — to click
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. spell — magic
  23. lean — to bend
  24. race — humankind

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