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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. row — a line
  3. shower — rain
  4. net — in sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. row — to paddle
  9. file — a line of people
  10. scale — in music
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. net — for catching
  13. chest — of your body
  14. file — a document
  15. net — after costs
  16. file — a tool
  17. shower — to wash
  18. chest — a box
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — size or range
  22. lean — thin
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — a weight

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