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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  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. tear — from crying
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. cell — in biology
  5. rule — government
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wax — to grow
  8. lean — thin
  9. spring — of water
  10. tear — from crying
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. cell — a phone
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. hand — help
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. rule — a law
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  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