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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bulb — for light
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. field — a subject
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. staff — a stick
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — thin
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. field — farmland
  15. bulb — for light
  16. staff — employees
  17. clip — a video
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. clip — for paper
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. staff — employees
  23. field — for sport
  24. clip — to cut

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