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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: spell · drill · lean · current · tear · shower · cold · plane

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. cold — not warm
  3. drill — a practice
  4. spell — letters
  5. shower — rain
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. current — electric
  10. lean — thin
  11. drill — army training
  12. lean — to bend
  13. current — of water
  14. shower — to wash
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. plane — a tool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. drill — the tool
  20. current — happening now
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. spell — a short time
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. spell — magic

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