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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cell — in biology
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. spring — of water
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. lean — thin
  12. clip — a video
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cell — a phone
  15. face — to confront
  16. clip — for paper
  17. press — to push
  18. lean — to bend
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. face — part of the head
  21. press — a publisher
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. press — newspapers
  24. face — to point toward

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