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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: lean · sharp · can · cold · drill · hand · perch · race

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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. hand — part of the body
  4. cold — not warm
  5. can — to be able to
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cold — an illness
  9. drill — the tool
  10. race — the arms race
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. race — humankind
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. hand — in cards
  15. sharp — clever
  16. drill — army training
  17. can — a tin
  18. lean — thin
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. hand — help
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. race — a contest

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