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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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Word bank
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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: lean · spell · fan · clip · march · scale · straw · hide

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. march — the month
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. clip — to cut
  5. spell — letters
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. march — the month
  8. scale — size or range
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. clip — a video
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. spell — a short time
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. spell — magic
  18. march — music
  19. lean — thin
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. scale — in music
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. clip — for paper

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