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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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. fall — to drop
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wound — an injury
  5. drill — army training
  6. drill — a practice
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. fall — the season
  10. branch — a division
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. squash — the sport
  15. fall — to drop
  16. lean — thin
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. drill — the tool
  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