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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. lean — thin
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pitch — completely
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. kid — child
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. lean — to bend
  13. game — a match
  14. fork — in a road
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. spring — a coil
  17. tube — a container
  18. game — wild animals
  19. spring — the season
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. spring — of water
  22. tube — the underground
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. wake — a trail

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