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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: snap · lean · bowl · cold · perch · cap · tear · last

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. last — finally
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. lean — to bend
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. snap — to click
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. perch — the fish
  16. cap — a lid
  17. last — to go on
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. cap — a hat
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cap — of ice
  24. last — final

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