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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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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: wind · racket · lean · spell · stand · cold · hand · temple

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. hand — help
  3. spell — letters
  4. stand — to bear
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. lean — to bend
  7. spell — a short time
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. hand — in cards
  21. cold — an illness
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. spell — magic

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