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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 116 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. object — to protest
  4. lean — thin
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. root — of a word
  7. field — for sport
  8. lean — to bend
  9. content — happy
  10. object — an aim
  11. root — the cause
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. snap — to click
  14. object — a thing
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. field — farmland
  19. root — of a plant
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. row — to paddle
  22. content — the amount
  23. row — a line
  24. field — a subject

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