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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. lie — to recline
  3. last — finally
  4. present — there
  5. last — to go on
  6. lean — to bend
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. last — final
  9. present — the time now
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. lean — thin
  13. shower — to wash
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. bear — the animal
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. present — a gift
  19. bear — the animal
  20. chest — of your body
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. shower — rain
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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