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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. lean — to bend
  3. cell — a phone
  4. wind — moving air
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. wind — moving air
  9. object — a thing
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pop — music
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pop — soda
  14. lean — thin
  15. object — an aim
  16. cold — not warm
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. cell — in biology
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. pop — to visit
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wax — to grow
  24. wax — in the ear

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