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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 · swing · bore · cell · chest · prune · bulb · spring

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. bore — to tire
  3. swing — music
  4. swing — to play on
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. spring — the season
  7. cell — a phone
  8. chest — a box
  9. bore — to drill
  10. spring — a coil
  11. spring — of water
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. lean — to bend
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. prune — to trim
  21. swing — in golf
  22. bulb — for light
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. prune — to trim

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