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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 ________________ went through the wall.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. swing — music
  4. lean — thin
  5. swing — in golf
  6. plane — a tool
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. cold — not warm
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. band — a music group
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. cold — an illness
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. band — a ring
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. chair — a leader
  24. swing — to play on

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