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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. saw — the tool
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. tear — from crying
  8. lean — thin
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. stem — to come from
  11. tear — from crying
  12. capital — a city
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. saw — the tool
  16. capital — money
  17. tear — to rip
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. ball — a dance
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. ball — a great time
  23. last — finally
  24. lean — to rest against

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