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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — thin
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. spell — letters
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — magic
  9. stand — to bear
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — for sport
  17. ball — a great time
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. cold — not warm
  20. ball — a dance
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wound — an injury
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. wound — an injury

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