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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. band — a ring
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. cold — an illness
  6. staff — employees
  7. clip — to cut
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. band — a music group
  13. present — there
  14. deal — to handle
  15. present — a gift
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bear — the animal
  18. lean — thin
  19. clip — for paper
  20. present — the time now
  21. bear — the animal
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cold — not warm
  24. clip — a video

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