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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. lean — thin
  4. root — of a plant
  5. branch — a division
  6. race — humankind
  7. squash — the sport
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — to crush
  12. race — the arms race
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. race — a contest
  15. present — a gift
  16. cold — an illness
  17. present — the time now
  18. root — of a word
  19. lean — to bend
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. cold — not warm
  23. present — there
  24. root — the cause

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