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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  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. hand — in cards
  3. kid — child
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bulb — for light
  8. hand — help
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. last — finally
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. net — for catching
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. last — to go on
  18. net — after costs
  19. lean — thin
  20. net — in sport
  21. last — final
  22. bulb — for light
  23. prune — to trim
  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