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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. sharp — with an edge
  3. lean — to bend
  4. bat — the animal
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. land — a country
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. saw — the tool
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. chest — of your body
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pound — a weight
  18. saw — the tool
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. land — to come down
  22. sharp — clever
  23. land — ground
  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