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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. staff — employees
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. staff — employees
  6. row — a line
  7. prune — to trim
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bulb — for light
  17. lean — to bend
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cold — not warm
  22. lean — thin
  23. staff — a stick
  24. row — a quarrel

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