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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 116 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. season — of the year
  3. root — of a word
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mine — for digging
  6. lean — thin
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. root — the cause
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. root — of a plant
  21. bark — to shout
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. season — in sport

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