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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's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. lean — thin
  6. hand — in cards
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. shower — to wash
  12. pit — in a race
  13. lean — to bend
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. perch — the fish
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. shower — rain
  22. pit — a hole
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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