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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. hand — help
  4. tear — from crying
  5. lean — thin
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pop — soda
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. tear — to rip
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. swing — to play on
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pop — to visit
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. tear — from crying
  16. lean — to bend
  17. swing — in golf
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. swing — music
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. pop — music
  24. mine — for digging

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