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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 120 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: file · perch · lean · cold · lie · cell · tear · cue

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — thin
  4. file — a tool
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a document
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cue — a signal
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. cue — a hint
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — the fish
  16. cell — a phone
  17. file — a line of people
  18. lie — to recline
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cell — in biology
  22. tear — from crying
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. cell — in a prison

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