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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a line of people
  4. lean — thin
  5. key — for a lock
  6. key — the most important part
  7. lean — to bend
  8. cell — a phone
  9. land — to come down
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. root — the cause
  12. hand — in cards
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. root — of a plant
  15. land — a country
  16. file — a document
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. key — in music
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. hand — help
  22. cell — in biology
  23. land — ground
  24. root — of a word

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