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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. spring — a coil
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — of water
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. tube — a container
  13. lean — thin
  14. spring — the season
  15. rash — hasty
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cold — not warm
  18. branch — a division
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. deal — to handle
  23. rash — a series
  24. tube — the underground

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