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

Word bank: cap · tear · toast · saw · wind · snap · trunk · lean

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. saw — the tool
  3. snap — to click
  4. wind — moving air
  5. toast — bread
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wind — moving air
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. cap — a hat
  12. tear — from crying
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. cap — of ice
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. saw — the tool
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. lean — thin
  22. tear — to rip
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. cap — a lid

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