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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: fall · bat · wind · mate · lean · lash · trunk · spell

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. spell — letters
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wind — moving air
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — thin
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spell — a short time
  12. mate — to breed
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. fall — to drop
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fall — the season
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. spell — magic
  24. bat — the animal

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