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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: root · squash · lean · mine · ruler · sharp · ground · chest

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. sharp — clever
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. lean — thin
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. chest — a box
  10. squash — the sport
  11. chest — of your body
  12. root — of a word
  13. squash — to crush
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. mine — for digging
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — crushed
  18. chest — of your body
  19. root — the cause
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. root — of a plant
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. ground — a position

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