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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. lean — thin
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cap — a lid
  5. prune — to trim
  6. tear — from crying
  7. content — happy
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in biology
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. board — a committee
  12. board — to get on
  13. content — the amount
  14. tear — from crying
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cap — a hat
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. wake — a trail

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