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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 116 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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. land — a country
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. land — to come down
  9. lean — thin
  10. spring — a coil
  11. ground — a position
  12. craft — a skill
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. ground — the earth
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. wind — moving air
  18. craft — boats
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. land — ground
  22. ground — crushed
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lie — to recline

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