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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — thin
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. shower — rain
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. fall — the season
  12. fall — to drop
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. fall — to drop
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. shower — to wash
  18. branch — a division
  19. chest — a box
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. tube — the underground
  23. tube — a container
  24. vault — a safe

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