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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. capital — money
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. shower — to wash
  7. row — to paddle
  8. shower — rain
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — thin
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. dip — to sink
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. row — a line
  24. leaves — to go away

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