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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. net — in sport
  4. chest — a box
  5. spell — letters
  6. craft — a skill
  7. mug — a cup
  8. capital — money
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. net — after costs
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cell — a phone
  14. spell — magic
  15. craft — boats
  16. capital — a city
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. mug — to rob
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mug — a face
  21. lean — thin
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cell — in biology
  24. net — for catching

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