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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 116 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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. lean — thin
  7. branch — a division
  8. bark — to shout
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. race — a contest
  11. swing — in golf
  12. row — to paddle
  13. swing — music
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. vault — a safe
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. swing — to play on
  22. row — a line
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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