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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. tear — from crying
  3. spring — a coil
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — to play on
  8. game — wild animals
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. spring — the season
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cell — in biology
  13. perch — the fish
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. spring — of water
  16. saw — the tool
  17. tear — to rip
  18. game — a match
  19. tear — from crying
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. swing — in golf
  22. cell — a phone
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. lean — thin

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