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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. field — for sport
  3. bark — to shout
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. spring — the season
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. lean — thin
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bear — the animal
  13. content — happy
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — child
  16. content — the amount
  17. pass — a permit
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. field — farmland
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bear — the animal
  23. field — a subject
  24. spring — of water

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