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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — wild animals
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. swing — music
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. sharp — clever
  9. swing — to play on
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. game — a match
  15. bore — to drill
  16. lean — thin
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fall — the season
  19. swing — in golf
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bore — to tire
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. racket — for tennis

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