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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. shower — rain
  6. lean — thin
  7. court — of law
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wax — to grow
  10. shower — to wash
  11. lean — to bend
  12. row — to paddle
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. row — a line
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. ground — a position
  20. cold — an illness
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — crushed
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. leaves — lets stay

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