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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. land — to come down
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. swing — music
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. land — a country
  13. lean — thin
  14. swing — in golf
  15. land — ground
  16. fall — the season
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — shares
  19. fall — to drop
  20. swing — to play on
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. fall — to drop
  23. chair — a leader
  24. capital — a city

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