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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. key — for a lock
  5. lean — to bend
  6. key — the most important part
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wax — to grow
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cap — a hat
  12. rash — a series
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. lean — thin
  15. cap — a lid
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — hasty
  18. field — farmland
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. field — a subject
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. key — in music
  23. kick — in football
  24. cold — not warm

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