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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bound — obliged
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bound — certain
  6. present — a gift
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. foot — a measure
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. saw — the tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. file — a document
  15. lean — thin
  16. present — there
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bound — tied together
  19. file — a tool
  20. present — the time now
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. cell — in biology
  24. foot — the bottom

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