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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: chest · spell · clip · bulb · can · drill · lean · wake

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. spell — magic
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. lean — to bend
  5. spell — letters
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. spell — a short time
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. drill — the tool
  11. chest — a box
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. lean — thin
  14. clip — for paper
  15. drill — army training
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — a tin
  20. drill — a practice
  21. bulb — for light
  22. can — to be able to
  23. bulb — for light
  24. wake — a trail

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