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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. roll — a cake
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. spell — magic
  7. tube — the underground
  8. march — music
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. present — there
  13. date — the fruit
  14. lean — thin
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. branch — a division
  18. present — a gift
  19. present — the time now
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. tube — a container
  22. roll — a list
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — of a tree

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