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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. field — for sport
  3. object — to protest
  4. object — an aim
  5. snap — to click
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. row — a line
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. field — farmland
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. race — the arms race
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. field — a subject
  15. wind — moving air
  16. object — a thing
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. chip — for betting
  19. lean — thin
  20. race — humankind
  21. chip — to eat
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wind — moving air
  24. race — a contest

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