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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: lash · lean · swing · prune · mine · stem · cold · file

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. lean — to bend
  4. prune — to trim
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cold — not warm
  9. swing — in golf
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. file — a line of people
  13. lean — thin
  14. mine — for digging
  15. file — a tool
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. cold — an illness
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. file — a document
  21. stem — to come from
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. swing — music

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