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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: wound · stock · tear · band · wake · perch · lean · rush

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rush — hurry
  6. lean — thin
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. band — a ring
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. stock — goods
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — to rip
  16. stock — shares
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. tear — from crying
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. band — a music group
  22. lean — to bend
  23. wound — an injury
  24. perch — the fish

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