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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. lean — to bend
  5. shower — to wash
  6. land — to come down
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. content — happy
  10. wound — an injury
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — a leader
  15. pit — a hole
  16. lean — thin
  17. wound — an injury
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. pit — in a race
  21. perch — the fish
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. chair — to sit on

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