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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: temple · straw · cold · file · lie · rash · prune · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. prune — to trim
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. lie — to recline
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. file — a document
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. cold — an illness
  20. rash — hasty
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lean — to bend
  23. cold — not warm
  24. file — a line of people

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