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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 116 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 · chair · ground · can · rash · lean · file · plane

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. lean — to bend
  3. rash — hasty
  4. cold — an illness
  5. can — a tin
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. file — a document
  9. chair — a leader
  10. plane — a tool
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cold — not warm
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. lean — thin
  15. can — to be able to
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ground — the earth
  18. rash — a series
  19. ground — a position
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. file — a tool
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. ground — crushed

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