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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. march — music
  5. rest — what's left
  6. mine — for digging
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. clip — a video
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. march — the month
  11. clip — for paper
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lean — thin
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. march — the month
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rest — what's left
  21. tear — to rip
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rest — a break
  24. foot — a measure

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