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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. face — to confront
  3. wind — moving air
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. rest — a break
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. face — part of the head
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. shower — rain
  12. field — for sport
  13. wind — moving air
  14. field — farmland
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — to wash
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. face — to point toward
  20. rest — what's left
  21. fork — in a road
  22. field — a subject
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. lean — thin

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