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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. can — to be able to
  8. sharp — clever
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. shower — rain
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. rash — hasty
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. rash — a series
  16. rule — government
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lean — thin
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. can — a tin
  21. can — a tin
  22. rule — a law
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rule — to rule out

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