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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a great time
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. fall — to drop
  6. lean — thin
  7. capital — money
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. capital — a city
  12. wound — an injury
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. fall — to drop
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. stock — shares
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. fall — the season
  22. stock — goods
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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