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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. date — the fruit
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. tube — the underground
  5. lean — thin
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. tube — a container
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. clip — to cut
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — for paper
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. cold — not warm
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cold — an illness
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. clip — a video
  24. temple — side of the head

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