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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: can · field · shower · pop · snap · lie · lean · wind

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. lean — to bend
  3. field — farmland
  4. lie — to recline
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. shower — to wash
  9. lean — thin
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — to be able to
  12. shower — rain
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pop — soda
  15. field — for sport
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. can — a tin
  18. snap — to click
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. pop — music
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. wind — moving air
  24. field — a subject

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