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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. drill — a practice
  3. chest — a box
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. stem — to come from
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. row — to paddle
  10. mine — for digging
  11. lean — to bend
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. lean — thin
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. row — a line
  19. drill — the tool
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. drill — army training

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