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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bark — to shout
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. hand — help
  7. bear — the animal
  8. band — a music group
  9. club — for golf
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. spring — the season
  18. club — for dancing
  19. spring — of water
  20. club — a group
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. lean — thin
  23. band — a ring
  24. straw — dry grass

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