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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. lean — thin
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. rest — a break
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bark — to shout
  14. can — a tin
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. hand — help
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lean — to bend
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. cold — an illness
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. can — to be able to

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