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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. file — a tool
  3. spring — of water
  4. cell — a phone
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. file — a line of people
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. wind — moving air
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. ball — a dance
  14. spring — the season
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. file — a document
  18. ball — a great time
  19. cell — in biology
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lie — to recline
  22. spring — a coil
  23. lean — thin
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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