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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. rock — music
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. spell — letters
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. current — electric
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — rain
  9. spell — a short time
  10. rest — what's left
  11. current — of water
  12. current — happening now
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. spell — magic
  16. lean — to bend
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rock — a stone
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. branch — a division
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. rest — a break

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