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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. sharp — clever
  3. snap — to click
  4. prune — to trim
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. pit — in a race
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cell — a phone
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. staff — employees
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. prune — to trim
  17. staff — employees
  18. cell — in biology
  19. pit — a hole
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. staff — a stick
  23. lean — thin
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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