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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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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: wind · roll · wave · lean · kid · wound · sharp · branch

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. lean — to bend
  3. branch — a division
  4. wind — moving air
  5. roll — a list
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. lean — thin
  10. wind — moving air
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. sharp — clever
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. kid — child
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. sharp — exactly

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