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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 120 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. march — the month
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. march — music
  7. lean — thin
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. spring — a coil
  11. plane — a tool
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. file — a line of people
  14. spring — of water
  15. march — the month
  16. spring — the season
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. wake — a trail
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. plane — in geometry

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