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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 120 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. lean — to bend
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. row — a line
  7. march — the month
  8. pit — in a race
  9. bat — the animal
  10. band — a ring
  11. pit — a hole
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — a tool
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. band — a music group
  18. row — to paddle
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wax — to grow
  21. march — music
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. march — the month
  24. wax — in the ear

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