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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. lean — thin
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. file — a document
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. can — to be able to
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — to visit
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. pop — soda
  19. plane — a tool
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. can — a tin
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. can — a tin

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