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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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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: bore · game · court · wind · snap · bat · foot · lean

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wind — moving air
  3. foot — a measure
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. court — of a king
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. wind — moving air
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. lean — thin
  11. court — of law
  12. game — a match
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. game — wild animals
  15. bore — to tire
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. court — for sport
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. bore — to drill
  22. snap — to click
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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