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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. mine — for digging
  5. field — a subject
  6. field — for sport
  7. cold — not warm
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. lean — to bend
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. stem — to come from
  18. wind — moving air
  19. field — farmland
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wind — moving air
  22. lean — thin
  23. cold — an illness
  24. stem — a stem cell

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