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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. ball — a great time
  3. lean — to bend
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. sharp — clever
  6. lean — thin
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wound — an injury
  11. race — the arms race
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. ball — a dance
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. chest — of your body
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. wound — an injury
  20. race — humankind
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. race — a contest
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. kick — in football

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