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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. tear — from crying
  3. field — farmland
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. pop — to visit
  8. spell — letters
  9. chair — a leader
  10. bore — to tire
  11. pop — soda
  12. bore — to drill
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. spell — magic
  16. lean — thin
  17. tear — to rip
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. spell — a short time
  20. pop — music
  21. field — a subject
  22. tear — from crying
  23. field — for sport
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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