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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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  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. tube — a container
  3. swing — to play on
  4. tube — the underground
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. object — an aim
  7. last — final
  8. swing — in golf
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. object — to protest
  11. swing — music
  12. stem — to come from
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. lean — thin
  17. last — to go on
  18. capital — money
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. object — a thing
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. last — finally
  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