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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 116 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. snap — to click
  3. bat — the animal
  4. root — of a word
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. net — after costs
  7. tear — from crying
  8. root — of a plant
  9. lean — to bend
  10. tear — from crying
  11. fine — all right
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fine — high quality
  17. net — for catching
  18. can — a tin
  19. net — in sport
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. tear — to rip
  22. root — the cause
  23. can — to be able to
  24. can — a tin

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