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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. spring — a coil
  4. lean — thin
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. band — a ring
  7. chest — of your body
  8. roll — a cake
  9. band — a music group
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — of water
  12. lean — to bend
  13. chest — a box
  14. game — a match
  15. chest — of your body
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — wild animals
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. roll — a list
  24. fan — to cool the air

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