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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 120 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. face — to point toward
  3. ground — crushed
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. hand — help
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. spring — a coil
  10. lean — to bend
  11. ground — a position
  12. face — to confront
  13. spring — of water
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. ground — the earth
  17. hand — in cards
  18. spring — the season
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. face — part of the head
  23. lean — thin
  24. stem — to come from

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