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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 116 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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rest — a break
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. swing — to play on
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. swing — music
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. swing — in golf
  15. lean — thin
  16. rest — what's left
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rest — what's left
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. kick — in football
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. kick — with a leg

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