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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. march — music
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. tear — to rip
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ball — a great time
  8. march — the month
  9. lean — thin
  10. tear — from crying
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. cell — a phone
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. ball — a dance
  19. cell — in biology
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. march — the month
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. cell — in a prison

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