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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. court — for sport
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. court — of law
  7. tube — the underground
  8. kick — in football
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. tube — a container
  11. lean — thin
  12. bat — the animal
  13. spring — of water
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. spring — the season
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. spring — a coil
  19. court — of a king
  20. vault — a safe
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. kick — with a leg

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