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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 120 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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. field — farmland
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. lean — to bend
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. row — a line
  8. lean — thin
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. court — of a king
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. row — to paddle
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. wind — moving air
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. plane — a tool
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. chip — to eat

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