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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. lean — to bend
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bulb — for light
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. lean — thin
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kick — in football
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. cell — a phone
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. file — a line of people
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. cold — an illness
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. drill — the tool

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