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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. charge — a price
  3. cell — a phone
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. lean — to bend
  7. chest — of your body
  8. lean — thin
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. spring — a coil
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. charge — in control
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. charge — electricity
  21. spring — the season
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. pound — a weight
  24. trunk — of a tree

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