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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. spring — the season
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. field — a subject
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. lean — thin
  13. kid — to tease
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. field — for sport
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. spring — of water
  22. field — farmland
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. spring — a coil

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