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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 120 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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. present — there
  5. saw — the tool
  6. firm — a company
  7. firm — steady
  8. firm — decided
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. lean — thin
  11. saw — the tool
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chest — of your body
  17. game — wild animals
  18. present — a gift
  19. mine — for digging
  20. present — the time now
  21. chest — a box
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. game — a match
  24. cold — an illness

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