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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. field — a subject
  3. shower — rain
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. lean — to bend
  6. roll — a cake
  7. lean — thin
  8. field — farmland
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. spell — a short time
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. field — for sport
  18. spell — letters
  19. roll — a list
  20. spell — magic
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. chair — a leader
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. lean — to rest against

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