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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — thin
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bank — for money
  8. snap — to click
  9. clip — a video
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. clip — for paper
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bank — for money
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. press — to push
  16. bark — to shout
  17. press — a publisher
  18. row — a line
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bank — of a river

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