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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. 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. squash — the sport
  2. spring — a coil
  3. bass — low music
  4. stem — to come from
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. chip — for betting
  7. spring — the season
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spring — of water
  16. bass — the fish
  17. chip — to eat
  18. 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