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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. file — a document
  3. lean — thin
  4. chest — of your body
  5. season — in sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. spring — of water
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. lean — to bend
  14. season — of the year
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. file — a line of people
  17. chest — a box
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. wound — an injury
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. file — a tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. chest — of your body

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