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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. spring — of water
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. spring — a coil
  6. mate — to breed
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. scale — in music
  9. lean — thin
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. plane — a tool
  15. mate — a partner
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — to shout
  21. scale — size or range
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. spring — the season
  24. mate — a friend

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