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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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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. game — wild animals
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. game — a match
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. content — the amount
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. band — a music group
  22. content — happy
  23. band — a ring
  24. lean — thin

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