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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: season · cold · lean · spell · fan · object · chest · scale

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. season — in sport
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lean — thin
  5. cold — an illness
  6. object — to protest
  7. spell — magic
  8. season — of the year
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spell — letters
  11. scale — in music
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. object — an aim
  14. scale — size or range
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. lean — to bend
  19. chest — a box
  20. spell — a short time
  21. chest — of your body
  22. object — a thing
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. lean — to rest against

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