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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. lean — to bend
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — a container
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. field — a subject
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. field — for sport
  10. stand — to bear
  11. mate — to breed
  12. field — farmland
  13. wind — moving air
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. row — a line
  17. wind — moving air
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. mate — a friend
  20. mate — a partner
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. row — to paddle
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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