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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: wake · bat · wave · hand · fall · cell · lean · field

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. fall — the season
  3. field — a subject
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. fall — to drop
  6. field — farmland
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. lean — to bend
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wake — a trail
  14. hand — help
  15. fall — to drop
  16. hand — in cards
  17. lean — thin
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. field — for sport
  20. cell — in biology
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. cell — a phone
  24. wave — with your hand

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