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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cell — a phone
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. branch — a division
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. cell — in biology
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. lean — thin
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — a tool
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. lean — to bend
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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