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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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. march — music
  3. land — ground
  4. lean — thin
  5. suit — to fit
  6. board — a committee
  7. stock — goods
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. board — to get on
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. land — a country
  13. wound — an injury
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. band — a music group
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. land — to come down
  18. suit — clothes
  19. band — a ring
  20. stock — shares
  21. suit — in cards
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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