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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. lean — to bend
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. row — to paddle
  7. cold — not warm
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. rest — a break
  10. chair — a leader
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bulb — for light
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. lean — thin
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cold — an illness
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. sharp — clever
  24. bulb — of a plant

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