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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  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. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — to bend
  3. shower — to wash
  4. spring — the season
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. track — to keep track
  8. pitch — completely
  9. track — a song
  10. spring — of water
  11. lean — thin
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. plane — a tool
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. track — a path
  18. tube — the underground
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. spring — a coil
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. tube — a container
  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