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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 124 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. pass — a permit
  5. spring — of water
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. lean — to bend
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. race — a contest
  10. land — a country
  11. hand — in cards
  12. race — the arms race
  13. spring — the season
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. spring — a coil
  18. land — ground
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. land — to come down
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. fork — in a road
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. race — humankind

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