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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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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 · fall · stock · tube · hand · ground · face · deal

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — to bend
  3. ground — crushed
  4. lean — thin
  5. tube — the underground
  6. hand — help
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. ground — a position
  13. stock — goods
  14. tube — a container
  15. fall — to drop
  16. stock — shares
  17. fall — the season
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. fall — to drop
  20. face — to point toward
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. deal — to handle
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. ground — the earth

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