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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. staff — employees
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lean — to bend
  6. race — humankind
  7. staff — a stick
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. staff — employees
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. bear — the animal
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. race — a contest
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. lean — thin

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