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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 · bore · present · cold · shower · cap · face · file

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. present — the time now
  6. face — part of the head
  7. bore — to drill
  8. file — a tool
  9. present — there
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. face — to confront
  12. shower — to wash
  13. lean — to bend
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cap — a hat
  16. bore — to tire
  17. present — a gift
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a lid
  23. file — a document
  24. shower — rain

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