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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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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 · straw · content · bulb · land · spring · leaves · sharp

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. lean — thin
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. lean — to bend
  5. spring — a coil
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. spring — of water
  9. bulb — for light
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. content — happy
  14. land — to come down
  15. spring — the season
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. bulb — for light
  20. land — a country
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. land — ground
  23. sharp — clever
  24. straw — a straw man

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