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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · wave · rest · tear · swing · lean

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rest — a break
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. lean — to bend
  6. tear — from crying
  7. rest — what's left
  8. lean — thin
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. tear — to rip
  12. swing — to play on
  13. swing — music
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cold — an illness
  18. 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