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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — to bend
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. drill — a practice
  6. field — farmland
  7. lean — thin
  8. drill — the tool
  9. content — the amount
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. field — a subject
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. hand — in cards
  14. field — for sport
  15. clip — a video
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. clip — for paper
  18. drill — army training
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. content — happy
  24. clip — to cut

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