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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. last — final
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. spell — letters
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. fine — all right
  12. lean — thin
  13. spell — a short time
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. fine — high quality
  16. spell — magic
  17. rock — a stone
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. last — finally
  23. last — to go on
  24. rock — music

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