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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 116 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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. bore — to drill
  4. ground — a position
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. field — farmland
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bark — to shout
  9. race — the arms race
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. race — humankind
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. ground — the earth
  16. bore — to tire
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. race — a contest
  19. ground — crushed
  20. field — a subject
  21. hand — help
  22. lean — to bend
  23. hand — in cards
  24. field — for sport

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