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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. fine — all right
  3. lean — to bend
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. present — a gift
  6. rock — music
  7. fine — high quality
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. spring — the season
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — hasty
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. squash — to crush
  18. squash — the sport
  19. present — the time now
  20. bat — the animal
  21. rock — a stone
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. spring — of water
  24. present — there

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