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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. kid — to tease
  4. shower — to wash
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. last — to go on
  7. land — to come down
  8. game — a match
  9. shower — rain
  10. content — happy
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. last — final
  14. lean — to bend
  15. last — finally
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. lean — thin
  19. land — ground
  20. stand — to bear
  21. kid — child
  22. content — the amount
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. land — a country

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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