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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  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 rest against
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. pop — to visit
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. rash — hasty
  11. branch — a division
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. lean — thin
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rash — a series
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. pop — soda
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lean — to bend
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. pop — music
  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