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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. lean — thin
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cold — not warm
  5. spell — a short time
  6. bank — of a river
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bank — for money
  9. spell — magic
  10. bat — the animal
  11. track — a song
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bank — for money
  14. lean — to bend
  15. rest — what's left
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. track — a path
  20. spell — letters
  21. track — to keep track
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. rest — what's left

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