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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. spring — a coil
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. lean — thin
  5. lean — to bend
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wound — an injury
  9. spring — of water
  10. bark — to shout
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. rule — a law
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. pound — a weight
  21. spring — the season
  22. scale — size or range
  23. rule — government
  24. scale — in music

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