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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. branch — a division
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. hand — help
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. file — a tool
  10. lean — to bend
  11. dip — to sink
  12. file — a line of people
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — a short time
  15. lean — thin
  16. stock — goods
  17. spell — magic
  18. hand — in cards
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. stock — shares
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. file — a document

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