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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: row · lean · cell · march · cap · rest · bear · straw

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. march — the month
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. lean — thin
  5. cap — of ice
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cap — a lid
  8. bear — the animal
  9. row — a line
  10. march — music
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. rest — a break
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. rest — what's left
  17. march — the month
  18. cell — in biology
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bear — the animal
  23. row — to paddle
  24. cap — a hat

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