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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. lean — to bend
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. rule — government
  5. fall — to drop
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. spell — magic
  8. land — ground
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. fall — the season
  11. spell — letters
  12. tear — to rip
  13. file — a line of people
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. rule — a law
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. lean — thin
  20. file — a tool
  21. spell — a short time
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. file — a document
  24. fall — to drop

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