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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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 bend
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. lean — thin
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. chest — of your body
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pass — a permit
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. chest — a box
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. capital — a city
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. capital — money
  21. degree — an amount
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. degree — from a university
  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