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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 116 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 · kick · wound · leaves · stick · wind · game · field

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. game — wild animals
  5. field — a subject
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. wound — an injury
  11. kick — in football
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. lean — thin
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. game — a match
  20. wind — moving air
  21. field — for sport
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. field — farmland

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