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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. rest — a break
  3. squash — the sport
  4. lean — to bend
  5. lean — thin
  6. rule — government
  7. scale — size or range
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. file — a tool
  12. squash — to crush
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. rest — what's left
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — a law
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. pound — a weight
  23. scale — in music
  24. pound — for dogs

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