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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. press — to push
  3. capital — money
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. tear — from crying
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. lean — thin
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. tear — to rip
  16. press — a publisher
  17. press — newspapers
  18. tear — from crying

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