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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. ball — a great time
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. craft — boats
  9. clip — to cut
  10. firm — a company
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. net — in sport
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ball — a dance
  16. cold — not warm
  17. net — for catching
  18. firm — decided
  19. net — after costs
  20. craft — a skill
  21. firm — steady
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. lean — thin
  24. clip — a video

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