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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. spring — the season
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. lean — thin
  7. march — music
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. spring — a coil
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. cold — an illness
  12. season — in sport
  13. degree — temperature
  14. spring — of water
  15. season — of the year
  16. degree — from a university
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pit — in a race
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pit — a hole

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