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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: lean · bear · lie · pitch · wound · pound · last · bat

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. last — finally
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. lean — thin
  5. pitch — completely
  6. last — to go on
  7. lie — to recline
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. bat — the animal
  11. last — final
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. wound — an injury
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bear — the animal
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bear — the animal
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pound — a weight

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