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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bound · bat · ground · straw · ball · lean

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. ground — a position
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. bat — the animal
  6. ball — a great time
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. ground — the earth
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bound — certain
  11. bound — obliged
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. ground — crushed
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. lean — thin
  18. bound — tied together

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