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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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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: wound · lean · fan · track · content · bowl · spring · row

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. track — a song
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. content — happy
  5. row — a line
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. track — to keep track
  8. track — a path
  9. content — the amount
  10. lean — thin
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. row — to paddle
  21. spring — of water
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. spring — the season

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