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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 120 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  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. fine — all right
  3. tear — to rip
  4. object — to protest
  5. tear — from crying
  6. rush — hurry
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. scale — in music
  10. fine — high quality
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — a practice
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. lean — thin
  15. drill — the tool
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. scale — size or range
  22. object — a thing
  23. object — an aim
  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