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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — thin
  4. staff — a stick
  5. swing — in golf
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. row — to paddle
  8. spring — the season
  9. chest — a box
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. swing — to play on
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. staff — employees
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. chest — of your body
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. dip — to sink
  21. staff — employees
  22. chest — of your body
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. swing — music

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