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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. lean — to bend
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cold — not warm
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. hand — help
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. tear — to rip
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fall — to drop
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. fall — the season
  15. lean — thin
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cold — an illness
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. tear — from crying
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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