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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 116 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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. tube — the underground
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. stem — to come from
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. tube — a container
  9. spring — of water
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. row — a line
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. row — to paddle
  14. spring — a coil
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. spring — the season
  18. season — of the year

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