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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 124 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. degree — an amount
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. stock — goods
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bore — to tire
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. degree — from a university
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. lean — thin
  18. stock — shares
  19. degree — temperature
  20. fork — in a road
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bore — to drill

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