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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wound — an injury
  3. net — for catching
  4. lean — thin
  5. season — in sport
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. race — a contest
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. race — humankind
  13. net — after costs
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. wound — an injury
  16. content — the amount
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. season — of the year
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. race — the arms race
  21. content — happy
  22. tear — to rip
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. net — in sport

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