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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. can — a tin
  7. clip — to cut
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — to be able to
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. board — to get on
  12. pound — a weight
  13. cold — not warm
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. perch — the fish
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lean — to bend
  19. chair — a leader
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. board — a committee
  24. board — a flat piece

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