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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — thin
  3. rash — hasty
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. tube — a container
  7. degree — an amount
  8. lean — to bend
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. rash — a series
  12. wound — an injury
  13. date — the fruit
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. craft — boats
  16. tube — the underground
  17. craft — a skill
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wound — an injury
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. degree — from a university

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