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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. season — in sport
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. band — a music group
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. band — a ring
  13. sharp — clever
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. season — of the year
  16. spring — the season
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. bat — the animal
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. lean — thin
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. ruler — for measuring

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