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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wound — an injury
  3. last — to go on
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. perch — the fish
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pit — a hole
  11. chair — a leader
  12. band — a music group
  13. scale — size or range
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. last — final
  17. scale — in music
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. lean — thin
  21. wound — an injury
  22. last — finally
  23. band — a ring
  24. scale — for weighing

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