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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bound — tied together
  3. lean — to bend
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — the season
  6. bound — obliged
  7. prune — to trim
  8. field — a subject
  9. bound — certain
  10. field — farmland
  11. spring — of water
  12. lean — thin
  13. spell — magic
  14. spell — a short time
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. mug — a face
  18. spell — letters
  19. field — for sport
  20. mug — a cup
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. cell — in biology
  23. prune — to trim
  24. mug — to rob

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