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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. lean — to bend
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. land — to come down
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. land — a country
  8. lie — to recline
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. fork — in a road
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — not warm
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. saw — the tool
  24. lean — thin

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