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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. lean — to bend
  4. rock — music
  5. spring — of water
  6. bat — the animal
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. last — final
  10. craft — boats
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. shower — rain
  15. last — to go on
  16. craft — a skill
  17. rock — a stone
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. shower — to wash
  23. last — finally
  24. lean — to rest against

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