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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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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: chair · lean · bat · spring · stem · file · cap · mark

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — thin
  3. file — a document
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. spring — a coil
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cap — of ice
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cap — a lid
  13. chair — a leader
  14. spring — the season
  15. file — a tool
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. mark — a grade
  19. stem — to come from
  20. lean — to bend
  21. mark — a trace
  22. spring — of water
  23. cap — a hat
  24. stem — a stem cell

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