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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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468
Word bank
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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. cold — not warm
  4. lean — thin
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. wind — moving air
  13. root — of a plant
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. object — an aim
  16. object — a thing
  17. root — of a word
  18. drill — a practice
  19. object — to protest
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. root — the cause
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — the tool

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