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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. rule — a law
  4. march — the month
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. clip — to cut
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. march — the month
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. lean — thin
  13. dip — to sink
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — in a road
  16. march — music
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. clip — for paper
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — government
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. clip — a video
  24. lean — to rest against

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