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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. court — of a king
  4. race — a contest
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fall — to drop
  7. court — for sport
  8. race — the arms race
  9. row — a line
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. game — wild animals
  12. tear — from crying
  13. game — a match
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. fall — the season
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. race — humankind
  18. tear — from crying
  19. court — of law
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — to bend
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. fall — to drop

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