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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 120 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. band — a ring
  4. lean — thin
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. face — to point toward
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. band — a music group
  12. face — to confront
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. content — the amount
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cold — an illness
  23. content — happy
  24. racket — for tennis

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