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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. rash — hasty
  3. dip — to sink
  4. lean — thin
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. clip — a video
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. date — the fruit
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. face — part of the head
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. face — to confront
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. rash — a series
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. face — to point toward
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. file — a document
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. clip — to cut

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