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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. lean — thin
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. field — for sport
  5. bear — the animal
  6. rush — hurry
  7. lean — to bend
  8. bear — the animal
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. spring — of water
  11. field — a subject
  12. swing — to play on
  13. field — farmland
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. swing — music
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. spring — the season
  19. swing — in golf
  20. kick — in football
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. spring — a coil
  24. shower — to wash

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