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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. mark — a grade
  4. file — a tool
  5. cold — an illness
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mark — a trace
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. shower — rain
  11. bank — for money
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bank — for money
  16. cold — not warm
  17. shower — to wash
  18. lean — thin
  19. file — a document
  20. perch — the fish
  21. bank — of a river
  22. lean — to bend
  23. file — a line of people
  24. date — the fruit

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