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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — thin
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. vault — a safe
  9. spring — of water
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bat — the animal
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. spring — the season
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. perch — the fish
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wound — an injury

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