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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: rest · cabinet · shower · wind · land · lean · press · kid

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. press — to push
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. rest — a break
  6. kid — child
  7. shower — to wash
  8. press — a publisher
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. land — to come down
  12. rest — what's left
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. wind — moving air
  17. lean — to bend
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. shower — rain
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. kid — to tease
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. lean — thin
  24. press — newspapers

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