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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — of water
  4. lean — to bend
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. current — electric
  7. current — happening now
  8. object — an aim
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. lean — thin
  12. bound — certain
  13. object — a thing
  14. bound — obliged
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. spring — the season
  17. bound — tied together
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. current — of water
  24. chest — a box

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